Brand new facilities for the care of orphaned wildlife have opened at Secret World Wildlife Rescue near Burnham-On-Sea this week.
Local businesses and volunteers who donated materials and time to construct the facility were invited along to see some of the first rescued babies of the year being cared for at the charity in East Huntspill.
Volunteer Laura Bloxham is caring for two of the orphaned animals – a pair of squirrels. Buddy is being treated for an eye injury, and George was caught by a cat.
Laura is giving them regular feeds of milk replacement, and keeping them warm in an incubator.
Baby rabbits are also taking advantage of the new facilities, and through the year they will house baby hedgehogs, leverets, owlets, swifts and more.
Secret World’s Jess Crabtree, pictured above, told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “These orphans need round the clock care, and their carers need to bring the babies on site while they are working here as staff and volunteers.”
“Now they can stay in an area that is quiet and infection-free, with all the right equipment to keep them warm, clean and fed.”
“We thank Somerlap, BSW Timber, Brinsea, C & H Carpets, CRS Building Supplies, Plumbase and North Northants Badger Group for their generous donations of materials and support, and all the volunteers and staff at Secret World who have given their time – in particular volunteers Graham Hardes, Greg Kelloway and Ryan Hartnoll.”
“The room is fitted with a one-way window, so visitors to our next open weekend on 28th-30th May will be able to take a look inside!”
Local businesses Somerlap and BSW Timber donated the timber for the building. Somerlap’s Kelly Jones said: “We were delighted to support Secret World by supplying materials for the orphan room.”
“Andrea Hutchings, our Fencing Sales Administrator, and I were happy to accept the invitation to see the finished building, which looks amazing and is testament to the many hours of hard work put in by the volunteers who built it. We hope it provides a safe environment for orphan wildlife to grow for many years to come.”
Marc Braddock from Brinsea, who supplied the incubators, added: “It is fabulous to see the new orphan room and great to know that our incubators can give such value to Secret World. Volunteers Graham and Greg have done such a great job. It’s an amazing facility. I hadn’t realised how much goes on at Secret World and the depth of care given to orphaned wildlife.”
Secret World relies on public donations to rescue, rehabilitate and release orphaned wildlife. You can support Secret World online at www.secretworld.org
