February Monthly Talk – A Talk on the Wild Side!
Brent Lodge Wildlife Hospital
Alex Foster, Outreach Officer for Brent Lodge Wildlife Hospital, came to talk to us about the work they do looking after sick and injured birds and animals. Their aim to release the animals back into their natural habitat as near as possible to the point at which they were found to enable them to lead independent lives.
The Charity was started by an inspirational and dedicated man called Dennis Fenter, (aka The Birdman) who found a young sparrow in his garden pond in 1971 and carried out a successful rescue. From this small incident he conceived the idea of a wildlife hospital which officially became a registered charity in 1978. The charity now takes in a wide variety of animals – hedgehogs, badgers, foxes, mice, owls and any small wild animal that is brought to their door.
Spring is a busy time for the rescue of baby birds and since they often need feeding every 5-10 minutes, Alex described a ‘conveyor belt’ of activity around the clock. Great care is taken not to bond or ‘imprint’ or handle the young birds and once they are strong enough they are moved to an outdoor aviary, prior to release into the wild. Last year nearly 400 hedgehogs were treated by the hospital – probably the result of warmer weather leading the parents having a litter later in the year, very near to their hibernation time. Hedgehogs are now an endangered species with only around 1 million left so every life saved is important. They also have a badger sett and fox earth to help rehabilitate at them in their natural home.
Alex described the main reasons that animals are brought to the hospital – birds entangled in fishing lines and nets, encounters with windows!, natural predator attacks, traps, cats, traffic or toxic substances such as oil. An area of concern is the amount of swans found full of air pellets (apparently as the result of indiscriminate use of air guns for fun!).
The hospital is currently undertaking a major development plan with a new reception area for patients, a new hospital and isolation wards and more outdoor areas. All this is carried out as a result of the generosity of donors and raising funds is a major part of their work and for this reason they visit schools and local communities to tell them more about the work they do. With the danger of Avian flu still prevalent, the centre is not open to visitors but they are hoping to able to take is certain birds for rehabilitation in the next few weeks.
