A struggling seagull, a hedgehog in a trap and a poorly owl

He picked up an infection being so run down and ended up having IV antibiotics. I’ve been covering his nights on call this week and we hope he has a speedy recovery.

Rescuers Kathy, Chris and Laura joined me to rescue an adult gull entangled in a fish and chip shop carrier bag in Prince’s Park lake, Eastbourne, on Monday night. Working in the dark wearing a dry suit, I waded out behind the struggling gull and encouraged him to swim to the edge. This took quite a while as the gull was having difficulty swimming. Once close enough to the bank Kathy was able to net the gull allowing Chris and Laura to get the gull out onto dry land. The bag was entangled around one wing as well as its neck. A rather waterlogged gull was taken back to WRAS’s casualty centre for the night but was suitable for release the following day. I continued on my rounds dealing with rescues that night, not returning home till almost 3.15am after also dealing with a road casualty gull in Pevensey Bay, a gull in Seaford, a dog attacked hedgehog in Seaford, a road casualty gull in Westham, and a road casualty fox on the A22 between Hailsham and Polegate and a young gull in Priory Road Langney.

I had an early morning call out to a hedgehog found down a fence post hole in Valley Drive, Seaford, on Tuesday morning. There were two in the same hole the previous day but one managed to climb out over night. Luckily there was plenty of space for me to reach down and put my hand under him to lift him out. As he had a damaged toe he has come into care. This is the second in the last couple of weeks. The last one found in a pipe in Mill Road Hailsham has now been released back to the wild.

I will be undertaking a hedgehog awareness talk at East Dean and Friston Village Hall as part of the East Dean and Friston Hedgehog Street project on Monday July 23 at 7.30pm. Tickets are available by calling Cathy on 01323 422029.

Saturday night Kathy and drove up to East Grinstead to rescue a grass snake entangled in netting by a pond. The snake was luckily not too tightly entangled and there was no evidence of any damage so the snake was able to be released back to the wild without needing to come into care.

We’ve had yet another hedgehog caught in a rat trap. I rushed out to this poor hedgehog at Pevensey Road, Polegate, after receiving an emergency call at 5.50am. The poor hedgehog had a front leg caught in a rat trap and if that wasn’t bad enough he then became entangled in a child’s football goal netting as he tried to leave the garden, dragging the trap with him. The hedgehog was given emergency medication and admitted to WRAS’s casualty centre. Our friends at Henley House Vets in Uckfield x-rayed the hedgehog under anaesthetic due to a swelling and bruising on the leg which was suspected as being fractured. However, the x-ray revealed it wasn’t broken. Roland the hedgehog was placed on a course of antibiotics and pain relief and is hoped that he will make a full recovery. Leaving these traps in locations where anything other than the target species can get caught is an offence.

Former volunteer Hannah has rescued a nestling tawny owl at about 6am at Windmill Hill. He has been medicated and admitted into WRAS’s casualty centre clearly concussed and underweight. He is doing very well though and we hope he too will only need to be in care short term.