COTSWOLD Feature
God’s creatures
The value of the work carried out by the Oak and Furrows Wildlife Centre at Somerford Keynes is reflected in the number of cases it deals with each year and the number of telephone calls it receives asking for help or advice.
By Joanne Collier Pictures courtesy of Oak and Furrows Wildlife Centre and Richard Pasco
THE rescue centre takes in some 3,000 casualties a year, and it answers around 7,000 telephone calls from people needing help for an injured creature. Founded in 1994 by Serena
Stevens, who continues to play a leading role in its work, the centre will be celebrating 20 years in 2014. Serena’s daughter Millie
suffered from cystic fibrosis and sadly died at the age of eight. Because Millie had loved
animals Serena vowed to continue her own wildlife rescue activities in her memory. The rescue became a registered
charity in 2006 and runs with three staff staff, Serena herself, Katia
Whitfield and Tory Cole. They are supported by a strong team of volunteers who make a major contribution, helping with tasks like the daily cleaning of the cages and helping with feeding. “Mornings are the busiest time
of the day, with all the cleaning of the pens,” says Tori. The feeding of the youngest
animals will continue on a four- hourly basis. “A very young baby mouse was
fed from the tip of a paintbrush,” Tori remembers. Staff are on hand from 8am,
and during the summer months the rescue is open until 11.00 p.m with the telephone service manned 24 hours a day. Dog walkers are often the first
to raise the alarm if they spot injured wildlife.
A recent example was when a
dog-walker came across what he had first thought were four abandoned puppies, but were four young fox cubs.
When demand is high, the
centre is helped out by other rescue centres, the Police, the RSPCA, and local veterinary surgeries. The objective with every
casualty is to provide immediate care with an eventual release back to the wild. Hedgehogs feature regularly.
Last year the centre took in 85. One patient, a peregrine falcon
was admitted with a broken wing and stayed for a year. Birds are frequent admissions,
sometimes fledglings, although the centre always reminds people not to be hasty in picking up a young bird as its parents may be nearby. A feathered family that did
need help this spring was that of 20 ducklings, who had apparently lost their mother. Autumn bonfires can often
result in casualties, and the team at the centre stress the importance of care when working in usually undisturbed areas of a garden and urge people not to use garden forks or a strimmer without checking for animals that might be taking cover.
Oak and Furrows Wildlife
Centre is at Somerford Keynes, near Cirencester. Tel: 01285 862439.
82 COTSWOLDESSENCE | September - November 2013
www.cotswoldessence.co.uk
Serena with Dawn and Perry the badger cubs
Tori with Hades and Tommy the muntjac deers
A baby wood mouse
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