March Update
Hello everyone and welcome back to the London Wildcare website for the last time...sort of! If you have had your newsletter, you know we’ll be renaming ourselves and expanding what we do as of the 5th of April. The current web address will remain valid and will bring you to the new site, as will our other domain name www.riversideanimalcentre.org which will become the main advertised address.
There will be some changes to the website to reflect this, although the look and feel will be identical in almost all ways...after all, so many of you have said how much you like the site so why re-design the whole thing? New links will tell you about our work with pets, with wildlife and in the field of conservation. We will also be having a kids section with monthly updates on what is happening in the natural world, which will be written by one of our new volunteers, Serena, who I am delighted to welcome to the team.
We’ve added a couple of links to the existing site, one of which is sponsored events. I am asking you all to visit this page and see if you can lend your support to Phil who is running the London Marathon for us. This is an extraordinary achievement and we are hugely grateful to Phil for the time he is taking out of his life to train and prepare for the run on 25th April. The picture opposite shows Phil meeting our oldest resident, ‘Dog’ for the first time and, as you can see, they hit it off very nicely. The money Phil raises will go towards funding the costs of our annual spring fox cub intake, which can range from over 70 cubs on a quiet year to almost 150 on our busiest ever in 2006! You can either send us a cheque, marking your envelope Phil’s Marathon, or follow the Just Giving link on the sponsored events page and donate on-line.
We have started a major redevelopment of the area behind our aviaries which has always been taken up by a large soil bund that existed on the site prior to our occupancy. With access to it made possible via the new land added on our last lease renewal, we have taken the opportunity to get in there with my favourite toys, the 3Ton Excavator and Dump Truck and between myself on the digger and various colleagues on the dumper, we have moved literally hundreds of tons of soil. This opens up space for new, larger enclosures as funds for building become available and it makes possible the development of our wildlife garden and teaching area, which will be used by schools and groups visiting us to learn about looking after wildlife and the environment. All in all, this is shaping up to be our most exciting year ever and, as long as the donations keep coming, I think we will look back come Christmas and be amazed at what we have achieved.
With so much to tell you all about, it becomes easy to forget that the day to day work of rescuing animals still, of course, goes on. It is a quieter and slower time of year than any other but as we move into March, we know that the peace won’t remain for very much longer. We also know that some of the malingering adult foxes need to get a wiggle on and get released as we’ll soon be needing their cages for cubs! Ok that’s harsh but I’m pleased to report that tonight I’ll be out there releasing Joe, who is a brilliant lad and who came in suffering from a very bad case of sarcoptic mange.
Joe had taken up refuge in a cluttered greenhouse in Carshalton but when he saw us approaching with our poles and nets, he did his very best to make a quick getaway. Luckily for us, he was trapped and, with a bit of to-ing and fro-ing, he was securely caged and on his way back to the centre.
Joe had various wounds and issues resulting from his condition, as well as the mange mite itself to contend with, but he was a feisty fox and one who was clearly ‘up for it’! Joe had everything from eye ointment and antibiotics through to anti-parasitics and evening primrose oil and, after a short spell in care he seemed ready to go at the end of January. However, the day he was due to be released, we noticed him limping and, upon close inspection, we found he had damaged a toe which had become infected. The cause is unknown to this day and, thankfully, the infection never spread, but it took a while to beat and Joe certainly didn’t appreciate the new wound care regime. With the last vestiges of the mating season still remaining, I think he had other ideas...sorry Joe!
Anyway, he’s sorted now and is ready to go so, in spite of the cold, I will be bravely stepping out in the midnight air and seeing this handsome chap back to his rightful place in the wilds of suburbia.
Now, as I am currently suffering from what you ladies callously term man-flu, it would be very nice if lots of you could stop by on Sunday at our sponsored dog walk and buy me a cup of tea at our tea stall (run by my mum but she’ll still charge me, wicked woman that she is). While you’re here, grab a dog, do a few laps and help us raise some much needed cash. I can e-mail a sponsor form to anyone who needs one and there must be some poor unsuspecting friends and relatives who are just waiting to be divested of their hard-earned cash. If that doesn’t appeal, then there’s always the Easter Egg hunt in a month’s time that you can come to...now you wouldn’t want me to have to eat all 200 eggs, would you??
Speak to you all next month...from what will then be the Riverside Animal Centre...can’t wait!
All the best
Ted Burden, Founder & Director
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