Weathergirl new Wildlives patron

Wildlives is honoured to announce the appointment of our second patron, national ITV weather presenter Becky Mantin. Readers who watched the ITV series 'Animal Tales', in which Wildlives featured, will remember that Becky was the presenter. Everyone at Wildlives was impressed during filming with her caring and compassionate attitude to the work we do, as well as her friendly interest in everything going on. As a result, we were thrilled when she responded to our invitation by saying she would be delighted and honoured to accept. Everyone at Wildlives is delighted that we now have two such committed people as our patrons.

Aragorn beats the odds Despite massive odds against him, with severe multiple injuries, Aragorn the fox has astonished everyone with the speed of his recovery which verges on the miraculous. He has now had the pin removed from his leg, and by the time you read this he will have been released back to where he was found, in time to re-establish his territory for the breeding season. Hedgehog escapes a sticky end A young juvenile hedgehog was brought to the centre by R.S.P.C.A collection officer Rebecca, after he was found in a waste pit of resin and other chemicals at a fibreglass factory. He was firmly stuck to the pet carrier and towel, and once freed of those it took several hours with every cleaning substance imaginable to remove the outer layer surrounding him. That was unfortunately not the end of it - it was then found that he had rolled up into a ball around even more resin, and now could not uncurl. At this point he was anaesthetised, and Rosie and the volunteers managed to prise the solid lumps of resin from inside the ball until he could be uncurled. The fear was that his eyes, mouth or nose might also be full of resin, or that he might have swallowed some. To everyone's surprise, the next morning he was uncurled and eating to make up for lost time. He is now doing well, and there is no permanent damage. Hedgehogs and other animals can easily fall in unprotected pits or cans of waste, including oil, so do make sure any chemicals in your garage or garden are secure. At this time of year hedgehogs are preparing for hibernation, and need to be at least 600g in weight to survive the long sleep. Hedgehogs below this weight will either not be able to hibernate, or will not have enough energy to ever wake again. If you find a hedgehog under this weight at this time of the year, even if it appears fit and well, it does need help to survive the winter. Place it in a cardboard box and phone the helpline for advice.

CCTV The security at Wildlives has now received an extra boost with the installation 24-hour CCTV monitoring and recording, with infra-red lights and movement sensors. The camera pans the whole of the property, and not only records any trespassers but is also invaluable for evaluating the progress of some of our nocturnal animals. It is thanks to the new camera that we are confident that Aragorn is fully fit and ready to go, having now watched his activity in his pen at nightThe CCTV was installed by GCS Security Systems, who did an excellent job and donated a lot of their time for nothing. We hope to include video footage of some of the animals soon. More Latest News on Jimmy is that he grew his fur back and was released Healey's of Clacton also helped tremendously, by donating a large amount of equipment and materials.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!  As regular readers of this newsletter will know, this has been the busiest year ever at Wildlives, with even more animals and birds passing through before being successfully returned to the wild. We could not do this work without the help of our volunteers, who cheerfully help out in all weathers, and the vast number of people who support us. Thank you all - it is your help and support that enables us to keep going. Next year we expect even more, if the pattern of the last nine years is to continue, so if you feel like lending a hand in the New Year we would be very pleased to see you. Newsletter editor: kathy.jinkings@ntlworld.com  All content © Wildlives Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre