Cedric’s Crash Landing

This fine young chap is Cedric… last night he flew into power cables and crashed to the ground. He has suffered only minor injuries, including a small crack in his beak… This has been repaired by the vets and after he has recovered from the stress of his ordeal we fully expect him to be released safely as soon as possible.

Little Hoggies, still they come.

The warmish Autumn has been a life saver for huge numbers of hedgehogs… Every year we over winter baby hoggies, but this year many more have been found than previously. Last year we had freezing temperatures and snow on the ground by now and thousands died… this year young Millicent here has joined others taking advantage of the DWR Hoggie Hotel

A Dorset Wildlife Rescue First

The magnificent chap is Raif, he is the very first Peregrine Falcon that has come into us…He is a youngster that has suffered much since leaving home… He has come to us thin and starving. But his prognosis is great…. Peregrines are relatively new to Dorset, and whilst we’d prefer to see them flying free and healthy, it is wonderful to be allowed to give aid to this superb creature even if only for a short while… The sight of these falcons in the skies of Dorset is hopefully going to become a regular thrill for us all.

Yet another Bird of Prey shot…………

This stunning creature is Rupert, a Sparrowhawk who must thank his lucky stars that he was found by a very caring chap who brought him in to us… He has been shot by an air rifle… and the pellet lodged in the joint of his wing… Having removed the pellet and stiched up the wound we can only wait and see how well he recovers…..He has lost a huge amount of blood and it will be a long recovery process and there can be no promises… he simply must be able to fly perfectly if he is ever to hunt again and at the moment his chances of being successfully released hang in the balance…. Its about time these air rifles were banned…the suffering they cause is simply too immense…

 

Orphaned Hedgehogs for Overwintering

As always…come late Autumn, the late litter hedgehog youngsters start coming in…. To survive winter, hogs need to be 600 grams by early November… Many, like young Cecil here simply won’t make the weight in time.. And so DWR offers these little ones a warm safe home over the winter until they can be released as fat and healthy adults next spring.

Update on Ellie the orphaned otter cub

You may remember that back in January we took in an orphaned otter cub called Ellie, she was only about 4 weeks old and she was truly beautiful…. She is now close to eight months old and is still only part way through her rehabilitation programme… it will be  many more months before she can be released but she is having a great time with our friends at the Tamar Otter Sanctuary who are equipping her to live the life of a wild otter… but at eight months old, all she wants to do is play…. and she loves her slide…..

 

Young, Lost, Alone and Staving

This magnificent young Buzzard has only just left home and he has not found life on his own  easy. ‘Jeremy’ was found grounded and unable to fly because he is so emaciatted…. The lovely couple who found him and kindly brought him in to us most certainly saved his life…. he was so weak that another 24 to 48 hours and he would have simply starved to death… He is now eating well and whilst it will take some time to fatten him up…we expect him to make a full recovery…

Call me ugly, and see what I can do with these gnashers…..

This young chap is Boris… a Daubentons bat. he looks very scary but is in fact as docile as a lamb and at barely two inches long….he is really no threat to anyone….unless you are a moth of course……. Boris is fighting fit, but a tad underweight after trapping himself inside a council building in Dorchester for several days… He is presently eating us out of house and home and we expect to release him in a day or two.

Henrietta Hawk

This magnificent young lady is Henrietta, she is a Sparrowhawk, found in a garden, grounded and bleeding…. Her story we will never know, but the wound on her chest whilst serious, is hopefully, not life threatening… Sparrowhawks are particularly difficult patients… They are the totally neurotic and make caring for them a tough job… But with her wound cleaned and treated we are hoping she will make a full and swift recovery.

Hedgehog Hospital

In the last couple of weeks we have seen a major increase in the number of hedgehogs coming in to us… This time of year, especially with the rain of late, should be a good time for hoggies, but many elderly ones are coming to us at the moment, many with injuries, illnesses and general frailty. However..the four week old tiddler in the photo is Georgina. found lost and alone, she has found a lovely warm temporary home with us in an incubator… and she is thriving…