Burnham-On-Sea wildlife carers have rescued two otter cubs that were stuck on the bank of a rhyne.
A walker contacted Secret World Wildlife Rescue after spotting a crying otter cub next to the Cross Rhyne in Weston near the town’s helicopter museum.
“Whilst on the phone to usm the person noticed a second otter cub,” the charity’s Marlies Hebdon told Burnham-On-Sea.com.
“Once the exact location had been established, a volunteer response driver was sent out to assess the situation.”
“When our driver, Cindy, got there she found that the cubs looked uninjured, but very small. They were crying and scuttling along the bank of the rhyne with no adult otter to be seen.”
“Cindy and a member of the public then set about catching the cubs and putting them into a crate for transportation to our centre.”
“When Cindy got them into her transport she found that her battery had died in her vehicle and she quickly called a mechanic from a local garage. He came out straight away with another battery to get Cindy going again so that she could bring the otter cubs in.”
She adds: “On admission to our centre, the cubs were assessed by Laura Benfield, head of animal care at Secret World. They were found to be two males in good health and estimated to be about 6 weeks old.”
“They are being fed regularly by Laura who has fallen in love with them. Who wouldn’t?”
“Once they are weaned, in about two weeks’ time, they will be eating young trout, and our animal carers will have a ‘hands off’ approach in order to keep them wild.”
“Their rehabilitation will take from 12-18 months, and each otter costs £5000 for their entire stay due to the amount of fish they eat and the amount of metered water used in keeping their pond clean.”
