Woodlands Animal Sanctuary – The Joys of summer

Woodlands – The Joys of summer

The weather has most definitely turned and we are all basking in sunshine and tropical temperatures.  On holiday, sat by the side of the pool with your favourite drink it’s your own little piece of paradise, but working, either outdoors with a physical job or inside with potentially dubious, or even non-existent air conditioning can be much less enjoyable.  The team at Woodlands Animal Sanctuary are feeling the heat with trying to provide, in some cases round the clock care for vulnerable kittens and abandoned hoglets, on top of all the other animals they care for on a daily basis.  From out of hours visits to the vets, extended vet visits on site, an increase in food bills, not to mention the extra man hours needed to provide this lifesaving care, Woodlands are pulling out all the stops.

Hedgehogs are unfortunately notoriously bad mothers and any interruptions to their lives can cause mothers to, in the best case abandon and in the worst, to kill their babies.  This means that if you think you have disturbed a nest of hoglets, as quickly as possible and touching as little as possible, return the area to how it was and do not go near it again.  If you feel you need to check that everything is ok, then Woodlands would suggest leaving it well alone for 24hrs, and then after that time and only from a distance, have a look to see if you can see any baby hogs leaving the nest in search of their mother, or you can hear them crying for help.  If this is the case then you can safely assume the mother has abandoned them and in that case they will need rescuing.  If you can’t see or hear anything from a distance, then continue to leave them alone.  If they do need rescuing then Woodlands strongly recommend phoning them, or another rescue in your area so they can give you specific instructions on how best to go about saving the babies.

Once at the rescue they will be monitored and fed every couple of hours, to try to mimic the care they should be getting from mum.

Kittens can be equally time consuming, as they too are in need of small regular feeds throughout the day and night to give them the best chance of survival.  For the team at Woodlands Animal Sanctuary this can prove a very testing time, especially for those members who volunteer to take babies home with them to provide that overnight care.

So why not raise a glass to the hardworking team at Woodlands Animal Sanctuary, and everyone else who is continuing to do their difficult and pressured job in this heat.

If you would like to see the work this charity do first hand their next open day is Sunday 15th July from 11-3pm, on their site near Ormskirk.  Also, with a fun dog show, it is a great day out for the whole family, whilst raising much needed funds for a fabulous local cause.