Rescue Advice
What to do if you find a casualty
This is a basic guide if you have found what you think is a wildlife casualty and are unsure what to do next.
First the situation has to be assessed, once it has been established that the casualty needs to be rescued, the question is how? For baby animals and birds check our page ‘orphans' for help.
Garden birds and pigeons, hedgehogs and other small mammals, can be captured with little risk to the handler, larger birds, birds of prey and large mammals should be left to the experts. If in doubt, ring for advice.
The casualty when approached is going to do one of three things; freeze, (hopefully), run, (probably) or defend itself.
You need to confine it swiftly and carefully, if you are at home then you will need to find something to put the casualty in, a cardboard box is ideal, if you are out and about then you will need to improvise and use your coat/jumper etc. The casualty can be secured but not too tightly wrapped for its journey to the centre or until help arrives.
The box should be lined with layers of newspaper and some warm material; a towel or woolly jumper, (not frayed or holey as the animal or bird may become entangled in it), then punch a few air holes in the box; a biro is a good hole-maker.
To catch birds and small mammals it is a good idea to use a towel or light material to drop over it once cornered, then casualty and towel can be scooped up and placed in the box. If your casualty is a hedgehog then fold your towel to pick him up, giving thicker material and more protection to you or use a pair of gardening gloves.
Once your casualty is in the box, close the lid quickly or make it secure to prevent escape, (I know it sounds obvious, but many a casualty has escaped on route to us and we have had to take the car apart to find it).
Your casualty is a wild creature and it is neither appreciative nor grateful for your help.
By placing it in the dark it is less distressed, still not happy but the dark will help to calm it down. Never hold your casualty, if it has to be held as you have nothing to put in, then it should be loosely but completely wrapped.
Once in the box, resist the urge to peep every five minutes, leave the box in a quiet, dark place help arrives or put it in the boot of your car or footwell for transportation to the rescue centre.
The towel or jumper in the box not only provides warmth, but a place to burrow into and hide, and also something to hold on to during transportation. There is nothing worse than a bird skidding around in a cardboard box, unable to stand up, hitting the sides of the box at each turn of the car. A towel in the bottom of the box will enable it to grip and a well padded box also stops it careering around and makes for a more comfortable journey. Your casualty has already been through a certain amount of trauma in getting injured, then more with you rescuing it.
We have had many casualties arrive in bare boxes with nothing to hide in, they must be terrified and having defecated and urinated along the way with nothing to soak it up, they are covered in it.
Careful capture, handling and transportation can really make the difference between life and death.
Never put wildlife casualties in a mesh type carrier, it is a recipe for disaster, being able to see out they will be constantly trying to escape, injuring themselves, birds will flap and become very distressed. If you have no other container then make sure it is totally covered, stress which can be fatal.
To recap on your rescue kit for small mammals and birds, one cardboard box, not too big, (skidding around), not too small, (enough room for bedding), a couple of towels and /or gardening gloves, why not keep it all in the box in the boot of your car.
It is always worth keeping an old blanket too, in case of road traffic accidents involving larger animals, as even though you will not be transporting the animal yourself, you can keep it safe at the roadside under the blanket providing warm and dark until help arrives. With deer, badgers and foxes, covering with a blanket or whatever you have to hand provides warmth and dark, while you make that call for help.
Remember call directly for help do not email. Ring 01285 862439
PLEASE DO NOT give anything to eat or drink unless advised to do so.
