The start of spring, and all arounds us the miracle of life takes place – often without us being aware. From a chrysalis emerging from the soil as a butterfly, hedgehogs and dormice coming out of hibernation ready to mate, to the sounds of different species of birds singing and protecting their territory. They will also be finding food for their mate who is probably sitting incubating the eggs in the nest. When we used to rear rare breeds of poultry, I was fascinated by incubation, whether it was eggs under a broody hen or in an incubator. The fact that there is everything in an egg to becom ..read more

The Blackbird is usually the first of our garden birds that start to nest from early March onwards. That’s why they herald that season for us and as soon as it arrives, we know within a few months we will be in the middle of the ‘silly season’ with hundreds of mouths to feed. It’s the female that builds the nest and the male that protects its territory. The male is the one with completely black feathering with a bright orange beak and yellow eye ring. The female is brown with a spotted chest, as are the juveniles, which often get confused with the thrush. Having been sent out to collect a bl ..read more

Well, it was bound to happen and a couple of months ago we had two otters reported in a overflow drain. One of our staff went to look at the problem and was surprised to find two juvenile beavers! Using a net, he was able to catch both beavers and return with them in a cage. They were both very heavy so obviously in good condition but with all the heavy rain we have had through the month, they had probably been caught in a flood. One was slightly larger than the other so were given the romantic names of Big Tail and Little Tail. They were passed on to the RSPCA at West Hatch as they have ..read more

With so many increases in prices, it is hard to think of helping charities by giving donations no matter what their aims and objectives are. However maybe you have some time to spare and that is invaluable to all charities? If you are able to volunteer a few hours whether it is once a week or once a month it means such a lot. I know we wouldn’t be able to help all the wildlife casualties if we didn’t have reliable volunteers and with the changes that are happening at Secret World, I think we will be needing more! I’m very pleased to say that Secret World has become a Veterinary practice with ..read more

Our annual Auction and Ball took place on 21st October at the beautiful Webbington Hotel and Spa. With a theme of ‘Down Under in Australia’, as well as guests in black ties and ball gowns, we welcomed surfer dudes, Miss Australia, and cassowaries through the doors of the Webbington! We would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who attended, it’s so humbling to see so many people coming together to help wildlife. A special thanks to the Mayor and Mayoress of Weston-super-Mare for attending and helping out with our raffle draw, the band (Juice) and the magician (Adam Richards Magic) for ke ..read more

Prickly November It’s that time of year that animal lovers worry about their hedgehogs. Females who have had a late birth of hoglets will sometimes desert them as there is little time for them to get up to hibernation weight of 600gms. It is more important for them to put weight on themselves to survive the winter to be able to breed again next year, mind you the lovely weather we have been having recently, the cold days seem a long way away. If the hedgehogs are coming in for food at the moment, then they should be ok but hedgehogs, especially tiny ones, wandering around during the day usua ..read more

 Our annual Auction and Ball took place on 21st October at the beautiful Webbington Hotel and Spa.  With a theme of ‘Down Under in Australia’, as well as guests in black ties and ball gowns, we welcomed surfer dudes, Miss Australia, and cassowaries through the doors of the Webbington! We would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who attended, it’s so humbling to see so many people coming together to help wildlife. A special thanks to the Mayor and Mayoress of Weston-super-Mare for attending and helping out with our raffle draw, the band (Juice) and the magician (Adam Richards M ..read more

  Unusual casualty We do sometimes get call outs to unusual animals, but this was a normal phone call about a badger that was in a shed.  We sent one of our Response Drivers to go and catch it up and bring it back to be assessed. Normally an animal in an unusual place usually has something wrong with it, so it is always easier to bring it back. We can then check it over before it is returned to the location where it was found. A confused Response Driver rang through once he arrived at the address as the animal was not a badger but was a skunk! Taking it to the nearest vets, the ani ..read more

We need multi-use intensive care kennels for our Badger Room. Can you help?   Aster, one of this year’s orphaned badger cubs It’s been another tough year for wildlife. While the weather has been much better for them, animals are facing more threats than ever before: more housing developments, more vehicles on the road, and the ongoing threat of avian influenza. It really does feel like everything is against our precious wildlife at the moment. So, it’s a lovely ray of sunshine to be able to tell you that this year we have had 64 callouts to badgers and have taken in 29 adult badg ..read more

Hasn’t it come around quickly? There are only five weeks to go till our biggest fundraising event of the year: our Annual Auction and Ball. If you haven’t got your tickets yet, there’s still time! For those of you who are undecided, we thought we’d offer a sneak preview of some of the fantastic lots we’ve got on offer in our auction. Here are some of the things that could be worse, with all proceeds helping sick, injured, and orphaned wildlife: Owley Woods Glamping Weekend – https://owleywoods.co.uk/ Koala and Joey Sculpture – donated by Matt Buckley at Edge Sculpture https://www.ed ..read more