Ryedale Wildlife Rehab - Winter Newsletter 2010

Otters

An otter cub was found unresponsive on a golf course near Harrogate.

She was taken by the RSPCA to the vets. She was warmed up and fed raw trout which she greedily ate.

She was brought here the following day for assessment.

She was bitey, beautiful and about 10 weeks old. There had been a lot of rain and she may have been washed down the beck close to where she was found, or her mother may have been killed on the road. I was attending The British Wildlife Rehabilitation Council Conference the following day down in Chelmsford.

I rang Pauline Kidner from Secret World and her vet Liz Moulineaux was giving a talk there. So we decided I would take the cub down with me and she was transferred to Pauline’s care .She named her Puddle and she is being reared with another cub for company.

A mammal was squeaking loudly in the front garden of a house on Welham Road, Norton. One of the vets from Applegarth went out for a look.

Katie Blackburn gathered up a young otter cub and brought her here. She was in good condition but alone, no mother otter would leave such a young cub to fend for its self. Otter cubs live with their mothers for about 10 to 12 months when they disperse to lead an adult life alone. A young otter cannot be released back to the wild until they are over a year old. The rehabilitation of otter cubs is very specialised, they need to live outside with a warm, dry kennel a pond of fresh water, plenty of fish and raw meat and another cub for company. They must be left alone with very no interference from humans so they remain wild and fearful of people.
 
This little otter, within the hour, was whistling loudly for her clan. It was a loud, insistent, disturbing call and I decided I must try and answer this call as best I could. I boxed her up and took her to the local fish pond close to where she was found. We sat in the dark, she and I, and waited. She began to call and for over an hour there was no reply. Our last chance was to go back to exactly where she was last free. As I lifted her out of the car in the box I could hear another otter calling. I sat quietly listening to the call of otters as the little female answered the call of one of her own. The sound did not get any nearer and I began to think this was a sibling of the boxed otter.

I started the search, walking the dark railway line and the river bank, listening to try and pinpoint the noise above the traffic. As I walked with the first cub onto the River Derwent bank a lady walked towards me asking “are you looking for an otter “! There in the skate park was her brother making the same loud insistent call I’d been hearing. He was quickly caught up in a blanket, their meeting was a joy to see.

They remained wrapped around each other on the way home.
I fed them on trout and left them to rest under a heat lamp in the badger pen.
They became shadows of each other and remained here for a few days to eat and settle.
Taking on one otter is a commitment but two is twice as expensive.

I was very lucky to have found the pair of them and they will remain together for rearing. I took them down the M1 to meet up with Ed Heap of the Otter and Owl Sanctuary in the New Forest. They have a good reputation and the space and time to care for otter cubs in rehab. These 2, 12 week old cubs will remain in his care until the spring of 2011.
Hopefully they will return to Norton for release.

I’ve been asking for any advice to try and help the local otters.

Since the flood defences went up its been hard for them to get from the stream on elham Road back to the River Derwent.
TThere have been sightings and road deaths here.

The E.A. have at last asked Sylvia Jay to come and survey the area of concern. Sylvia and I spent a morning walking the area and hopefully some ideas will be forth coming.

Badgers

The badger cull in Wales looks set to go ahead despite evidence suggesting it will not work.

The farming lobby has set its head against badgers, thinking this is the easy option for them. Badgers, as a legally protected British species, will be trapped and killed under licence , a dangerous president for all our native species.

We must protest strongly and The Badger Trust is taking legal advice under a Judicial Review to help the badgers in Wales. Any help you can give them in form of donations will be gratefully accepted as any legal work is always extremely expensive. It’s a worrying time for wildlife and their right to lead a wildlife.

Badgers locally are doing well, a householder from Langton Road, Norton rang me after seeing a badger walking up Langton Road. He was cycling home and heard the tippy tap of the badgers claws on the hard pavement. This confident badger emerged out of a side road and trundled off up the street at 2.30 am.

A couple in Norton are feeding badgers in their garden and have had the nightly delight of seeing stripy tucking into soaked dog food and peanuts.

I’ve had rta badgers in, one very old sow from Burythorpe had worn teeth and was wandering during the day. She died here over night, she’d got to the end of her life.

Badger cubs are born usually in February so now is the breeding season.
The sows throw out the boars and they get very grumpy and territorial and many are killed on the roads. So beware, badgers are about in February.

The cubs from last year, reared at Secret World and RSPCA Stapeley Grange were released in late summer and reports look good for their future.

Badger digging seems to be on the increase and I was asked to attend a sett disturbance near Thirsk. Two setts had been interfered with and by the evidence at one of them, badgers had been taken from this sett. Thankfully a local dog walker had seen a strange transit parked and took the number. The vehicle was from South Yorkshire, hopefully the case will go to court.

Lamping, illegal coursing, bird of prey persecution, badger digging are all crimes the Wildlife Crime Police Officers in this area are dealing with regularly.  So if you suspect something is not quite right PLEASE ring the police straight away.

        North Yorkshire Police number is 0845 6060247.
        Humberside Police number is 0845 6060222.
        The RSPB phone number is 01767 680551 .
        The RSPB confidential hotline for bird of prey persecution is 0845 4663636.
        The RSPCA number is 0300 1234 999.

I had 3 Guinea pigs to stay for a while via the RSPCA. They had been found dumped, in November on waste land near Pontefract. They were cold and thin but responded to food and a dry home. They were moved on and hopefully someone is giving them the care they deserve. I have a new grand daughter Bella, born in September , who very soon will need some pets, so I look forward to keeping guinea pigs again !

Birds of Prey

Someone working in Helmsley came across a dead bird of prey, they thought it might be a Buzzard. They rang the police and knowing that North Yorkshire has a terrible reputation for bird of prey persecution I went out to examine this bird.
 
It was laid dead clutching a fern in a garden, the bird was a Goshawk. I took the carcass for x ray. The bird was very thin but showed no fractures or sign of shot. It was a young bird, perhaps it had not fared well after learning to fend for itself.

The mystery was solved by Wilf Norman who is a Goshawk specialist. The bird had trichomoniasis, a parasite that affects the throat and gullet. It is caught from the bird of prey eating pigeon and doves.

A male Barn Owl was found sat by the side of Newton Road near Pickering.

He was taken to Eastgate vets, who fed him and then rang me. He showed no obvious injury , but was thin and quiet. I lef him to rest in a warm box with food. He wore a bto ring and I e mailed Pawl Willet, who has ringed many Barn Owls in this area.

A few days later he rang back and we checked the numbers again . This lovely old bird was rung on 17th June 1997 on the ings between Sherburn and Brompton by Sawdon by Pawl as a fledgling.

So he was in his thirteenth year.

He’s doing well, flying, eating lots and will go back out soon.

Another Barn Owl was brought here from Battleflatts vets at Stamford Bridge. She had been found near Howden, also sat dazed by the side of the road. She did well and was released back on farm land near Howden on a cold frosty night. She too wore a BTO ring and I heard back from them of her details. She had been ringed by Jimmy James on Humberside as a nestling 6th July 2002 making her in her 8th year.

It’s lovely to hear of older birds who have survived the rigors of living a wild life.

Water Fowl

A swan came in from Stonebow York, he’d been hit by a bus.

Thankfully it must have been just a nudge, he’d scrapped his legs and ruffled some feathers.

He did well, regained his composure and I returned him to Stonebow on a quiet Sunday morning. He had a mate waiting and their greeting was a delight to see.

A Jack Snipe was taken into Battleflatts vets, Strensall on Christmas Eve.

I had a snowy ride to collect him, he had a dippy wing so had to stay a while.

He fed well on mealworms but could not fly.

Sadly he died 6 days in, a lovely dainty little wader.

A bird was left here whilst I was at work. I’m now the Senior Animal Technician at Norton College and enjoying working with a wide variety of birds, mammals and reptiles.

I came home to find what I thought was a Red Throated Diver. The bird had been found behind dustbins in the middle of Scarborough.

Diving ducks have legs right at the back of their bodies, making it difficult for them to walk on land. This bird was not injured but had found itself in the wrong place and unable to get back to water. I knew it must go back straight away. So off we went back to the seaside. Diving ducks often fish in the harbour at Scarborough , its sheltered and lots of unusual divers have been seen there.

So in the dark I launched this feisty bird onto the water. Within minutes it was ducking and diving and was soon successful in getting a meal. It’s grand to see he was back in his element where he should be.

I smiled all the way home. I e mailed this photo to the local birders and back came the birds true identity. He was a first winter Red Necked Grebe. These birds do not nest in this country, his inexperienced exploring had him lost in Scarborough.

I hope he survived.

THANKYOU to all who have supported me this past year.

To Battleflatts vets for continued expert care for wildlife and for supporting me with appeals for food at Christmas. I couldn’t do it without you.
Also to the faithful supporters who have contributed over the years.

Roll on some light nights, warm weather and SPRING !

 

About Ryedale Wildlife Rehab

Jean Thorpe runs 'Ryedale Rehab' where she specialises in caring for sick and injured wild animals - with the sole intention of releasing them back into the wild after they are fully recovered and capable of surviving on their own.

Individual news stories from Jean appear at the top of the page.  The most recent newsletter appears below them.


If you would like to support the work Jean does, you can email her at jeanthorpe19@hotmail.com or send donations to the following address -

Jean Thorpe
88 Ryedale Close,
Norton Malton.
North Yorkshire
Y017 9DQ

The official Ryedale Wildlife Rehabilitation website can be seen at www.ryedalewildlife.co.uk .