Unity Wildlife Rehabilitation and Welfare

Release video of the 3 ducklings as promised, this is what makes this volunteer work worth it :-)

My Sunday evening 😊 Enjoy!

Hello all, Wanted to share a picture of our first duckling of the year 2024, thankyou to the finders who brought this little one to me, despite their best efforts and hours of searching, mum could not be found. Enjoy everyone, Emily

A short video of the release of ducklings that arrived with us over the summer. Ducklings take a considerable time to develop in comparison with other species - and its often 8-12 weeks from birth before they are flight capable. Fortunately, this crowd made the release cut, and were released happily on a suitable waterway where they can learn how to be ducks in the wild together. We wish them luck on the next phase of the journey.

Meet Malin

Meet Malin. Malin is a juvenile 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗙𝗮𝗹𝗰𝗼𝗻 - who was admitted to us from Peterborough Nature Cam. Judging from the way she was holding her left wing, we knew she had sustained an injury; but it was impossible to tell the full extent of the damage from a physical assessment. We asked the team of experts at TrioVet to see if they would X-ray her so we could make a plan for her treatment - but the results of the X-ray was worse than what we were expecting. She had sustained a 𝗱𝗼𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘂𝘀 (𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚏𝚒𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜) and a 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗿. The age of the injury based on the level of ‘ossification’ (𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚔 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚘𝚕𝚘𝚐𝚢 𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚒𝚎) was estimated to be between 4 and 6 weeks old, so it had passed the point in which a fix could have been achieved by aligning the bones with correct union. To hunt, according to its classic ‘stooping’ style - a Peregrine Falcon needs to be able to climb to thousands of feet into the air. From a position of aerial supremacy, it will close it wings and drop like a stone onto its unsuspecting victim, reaching speeds of up to 200mph. Any wing fracture on these species will require nothing less than a perfect fix in order to get the bird back into the wild. Due to the complexity of surgical options, and the slim chance of success with an older injury of this nature - it was decided that this was not worth attempting. So, we had to make a decision as to whether the bird should be euthanised (often this is the preferred choice, as a wild bird will

Meet Brooke. Brooke is a young badger, approximately 7 weeks old. She was found yesterday, alone, at the side of a road and due to the danger of situation, she was removed from the location by the member of the public. We don't often recommend this as the primary course of action, but it was the full intention of the member of the public to take the animal to someone (a rehabber, or a local vet) that could help, but had some difficulty in locating someone who could help as it was bank holiday. We were contacted, and took the badger into our care - and on admission, she was assessed for injuries and given the all clear. She was given food and water, and left to settle in (being away from her mother and being handled by humans away from their natural environment can be incredibly stressful for such a young animal). The trail cam was set up to monitor her overnight behaviours, and she was determined to show all the clear traits of a healthy badger. She was given the all clear for immediate release. Badgers are highly territorial, and it would be fatal for a young badger to be released in an area that was not her known territory. Therefore, as part of the release process, the badger was first taken to an area that is known not to be her home territory. The animal remained buried in the blankets, showing no signs of recognition of the environment she was taken to. Then she was taken to the very same location she was found, and our team quickly located the badger highway (identified by channels trodden into the ground foliage as badger activity will use the same routes night after night to forage) Immediately, the young cub poked her nose in the air. Once the courage to move out of the cage was built, she quickly located a familiar scent, and with a happy and jolly, but cautious trot, she followed it all the way to her sett. A happy outcome for Brooke. Thank you to the kind people who noticed this creature in distress, and despite some difficulty in finding help, per

Lapwing Release

Guillemot release

Sparrowhawk release

Bird strikes against windows are very common on sunny days when light reflects off the shiny surface making the glass look like a tree or the sky. We receive many calls each year where birds have injured themselves in this way, but the majority of them do survive. Usually, the bird will realise last minute that the object they see reflected in the window isn't actually real, and will bank or steer off angle to avoid a head on collision. (just look at the dust imprint of the feathers left on such strikes to see how the bird actually connected) This sparrowhawk connected with the window of Unity HQ (lucky for her) and we knew exactly how to help her get back on her feet. After a collision a bird will be stunned, and in a state of shock. The best remedy for this is to put the bird in a dark box, and place somewhere quiet for a few hours. If the birds brain isn't processing sensory input, it allows it to regroup to mitigate any concussion the bird may be suffering with. We call this technique "dark-boxing" and after the process, this hawk was released in the garden with a firm instruction to stay clear of windows in future and stop hunting in the immediate proximity of our other rehabiliting patients. So, if you happen to hear an impact on your windows and find a stunned bird on the ground, by all means give us a call, but might be worth getting the bird safely contained and "dark-boxed" before making the call for further advice.

Brown Long Eared Bat Release

Look at the size of these ears! We get many bats admitted through our doors every year, but this patient was quite unusual. This Brown Long Eared Bat was found flying around an office building. The concerned office worker suspected he may be injured and so took the animal to the local vet for a checkup. Fortunately, the staff determined him to be free of injury and cleared him as ready to return to the wild. All bat species are protected in the UK, and their ecological importance in nature has resulted in the formation of licensed volunteer groups that frequently monitor the numbers and locations of where these animals live. Specialist organisations that focus on their rehabilitation when they are admitted to rescue centres also exist. When bats are admitted to us that require a longer stay, it is our policy to arrange transfer to these specialists at the earliest convenience, as they have much better knowledge, experience, and facilities to get these difficult and intensive patients back out the door into their natural habitats in the shortest amount of time. In this case, we were confident this particular bat did not require this level of care, and he was taken back to the same location he was found. Unlike birds, bats will not open their wings unless they want to fly; so launching them into the air is never the best approach and will more likely result in the animal falling again to the ground. Instead, putting them on a vertical structure; such as a tree or a side of a building so that they can climb to gain height and will take to flight in their own time is the best strategy. In this case, the little guy wasted no time in getting himself to the top of the tree, and out of harms way, and after watching for about an hour, we observed him take to flight and fly off into the distance. A successful release. Good luck, little bat.

Miss Sniffles

Meet Miss Sniffles. This Badger cub was found curled up on the grass verge of a country road by a dog walker on the morning after some heavy rain storms. Realising the animal was alive, she picked up the animal in towels that she had in her car and gave us a call. Badgers are usually very aggressive animals, and not creatures that we would recommend the public attempt to contain themselves, but this one was soaking wet, freezing cold and no older than 13 weeks old, and as such didn’t put up any fight whatever at being picked up by a human. In fact, the caller reported that she was convinced she saw relief in the animals face when she rescued her from the outside and began drying her off and warming her up. She was brought to us for assessment - as any creatures found near to roads usually warrant investigation incase they have sustained injuries from a collision with a motor vehicle. Upon arrival, we checked her over and were pleased to see that she had no physical damage. This means that she would likely only need a short stay with us before we would be able to get her back to location and hopefully back with her real family in a short time. We warmed her up, gave her some food and left her alone to recover from her stressful ordeal of being separated from her family. We set up our trail cam on her container, so that we could see what she got up to at night, to see if she exhibited all the usual signs of normal, healthy badger behaviour - which would be a factor in deciding whether she is strong and capable enough of being returned to the wild. The first night, she didn’t move much - she got up, walked around, poked around at the food and then curled back up under the blankets. However, on the second night, and on every other subsequent night she was with us, she was a rebel. . . . clawing and biting at the bars trying to get free, demolished the entire food bowl, before throwing it and water bowl everywhere. Generally, she was being a destructive little beast

Mallard family relocation

Meet the Waddles Family! This family of ducklings were the second group to be hatched in one of the many courtyards of Peterborough City Hospital this spring, and once again, as it would have been impossible for the mother duck to lead her offspring to the water, she was given a helping hand. The recovery operation was straightforward; the ducks were bedded down amongst some dense plantation in the compound, and we managed to cover the area with a large net to quickly secure the adult bird. This is always the first part of any compound recovery task, and is usually the hardest; as she is fully capable of flight and has a better developed threat perception. On this occasion, we contained her on the first attempt, with minimal stress. We then focussed on rounding up all the little squeakers, who by this point where trying desperately to find a safe spot amongst the plants. As a team effort, involving myself, a hospital employee, a security guard, and many spectators pointing the directions of where they saw the little ones go to ground, we managed to find 12 youngsters. There was assumed to be a thirteenth, but several thorough searches failed to uncover him, and as none of the witnesses could agree whether the full count was 12 or 13 ducklings, we assumed we had rounded them all up. The video below shows the moment the family was relocated to a quiet waterway, and the moment that the youngsters were reunited with their mother. The story however, does not end here. 20 minutes after we got back, thinking all the animal work complete for the day, we had a call from the hospital - saying that unlucky "thirteen" is now out of hiding and is running frantically around the compound trying to find his family. Unfortunately, it was too late to reunite him with his family; instead, Thirteen has been introduced to a new family of orphan ducklings that are rehabilitating with our waterfowl expert and he has already settled in remarkably well. He is in good hands, and will be

Orphan Fox

Meet Frieda. This cute little sleeping bundle is a Red Fox cub; she's around 4 - 5 weeks old and was found yesterday afternoon, in her den underneath a stack of hay-bales. Frieda was the lone survivor of a family tragedy. We don't know what may have happened to cause the deaths of her siblings and mother, but we do know Frieda was incredibly lucky to be found when she was by the kind-hearted gentleman who bought her to us. As we were unsure how long she had been without food, it was important to get her warmed and hydrated before trying her with any rich food that may upset a starving digestive system. Fortunately, Frieda turned out to be a whirlwind of stubbornness and vitality, and it was clearly this trait that gave her the edge to survive – within an few hours she had made herself at home, turned her nose up in disgust at the introduction of her first bottle (the non-dairy milk inside soon changed her mind)! and was pouncing on her teddy roommate who disappointingly refused to pounce back... Once we had assessed and settled little Frieda, we contacted our friends over at the Kingfisher Wildlife & Exotics Sanctuary, who we know are currently raising several fox cubs of the same age. Fox cubs are intelligent and social animals; and it was clear from the outset that Frieda was incredibly lonely, and missing her family dreadfully. Siblings are important as a fox cub grows up; they will learn together through play and will hone the skills they will need later in life. This kind of interaction is as vital a part of development as any other for a fox and so we made plans to transfer her this afternoon. We have every confidence Frieda will go from strength to strength and continue to thrive now she's with her new siblings. Be sure to keep following our page for further updates on her progress, and please check out the good work being done by the good folks over at Kingfisher, if you haven't already heard of them. . . .

Kingfisher Release

Meet Azure. Azure is the second Kingfisher in as many months that we have had through our doors. This time, the bird was a result of a window strike and was found looking stunned in the courtyard of a hospital in Spalding. When we learned the bird was more likely just dazed, we decided the 20 minute journey back to our hospital was not required immediately, and we figured it would be better to keep the bird local and hope that an overnight stay in a dark box would give it enough time to recover. We have a good working relationship with a Veterinary practice that operates in the town, and contacted one of their veterinary nurses, who was happy to respond and give the bird a health check. She reported the kingfisher was a little underweight, but identified no visible injuries that would require treatment and longer term care. So we advised her to keep the bird overnight and attempt release the following morning. Our instincts proved correct, and we were pleased to learn that the bird flew off confidently when taken to the nearest waterway the next day. It’s always preferable to avoid the stress of long-distance transportation for patients that we believe can be resolved with ‘dark box’ treatment. Keeping the concussed creature in a box for up to 24 hrs in a dark, quiet and warm place can work wonders in allowing the brain to “reset”. This is always our first recommendation when people report window strikes. Should this be insufficient or more serious injuries are assumed to have been sustained from the collision, we will be always happy to advise to bring patients to our hospital, but more often than not this is not required. Thanks to Eleanor the vet nurse who was able to respond quickly to help this bird in his time of need which we believe made the difference between success and failure.

Meet Bernard

Meet Bernard the Hedgehog! Bernard was found in his garden with a very nasty slash wound to his tummy and was rushed immediately to his local vet by the understandably panicked human who found him. The vet cleaned his wound, stitched him up and discovered he also had some significant damage to his upper palate. The lovely lady who found him assumed the injuries resulted from a predator encounter, but lacerations to the inside of the mouth are not usual to this kind of attack. We can't be certain, but we think Bernards injuries are down to inappropriately stored garden tools or litter; it is a sad truth that broken glass or a sharp metal tin often do cause the kind of damage this hedgehog received, especially if there is food remaining on the broken refuse that the unsuspecting hedgehogs unknowingly try to eat. After being discharged from the veterinary practice he was brought over to Unity so that we could make sure he continued to heal - poor Bernard's woes do not end there however! On admission, we identified quite a bad case of lungworm, which is often fatal to hedgehogs. Bernard is fighting hard, but he is a very poorly little chap. The lungworm mean he is struggling to breathe and the injury to his palate certainly isn't helping him either..He has all but lost his appetite because eating and breathing at the same time is not an easy thing to do so we are hand feeding him a special supplementary high calorie diet regularly thoughout the day, but it's very slow and exhausting work for him to eat it. It is going to be a long, gruelling and uncertain road to recovery for little Bernard... wish him luck. ❤

The time has come once again to start scooping up our underweight Autumn Hedgehogs! The last few days have seen the return of winter coats, hats and gloves as the mornings at least have had a definite chill to them; and we're not the only ones to think so! Our smallest hedgehogs currently came in this week at under 200g which is a very low weight for this time of the year. Hedgehogs really need to be a good healthy weight of at least 500g, preferably over 600g prior to hibernation, otherwise they run the risk of not being able to wake themselves up in the spring. Hedgehogs are actually the U.K's only true hibernator – once asleep, their body temperature drops dramatically and their metabolism slows down almost to a stop. Usually they will only wake up again once temperatures begin to rise, and if they don't have the energy reserves left to do so then they sadly fade away... The appearance of these chilly mornings should see hedgehogs start to build their winter nests out of leaves, straw and hay so that when the temperatures drop to a consistent low in the deepest midwinter they have a safe and warm place to settle down. We know a lot of you have hedgehog houses in your gardens already, and these are the perfect early Christmas present to your local garden hedgehog to keep them safe and warm throughout the frosty months. You can also help by making sure you leave a nice meaty cat food and fresh dish of water out for our prickly friends in the run up to the hibernation season. If you do happen to see a small hedgehog on your travels, please scoop him up and give us a call – the Unity hedgehog hotel still has plenty of room for the little ones in need of shelter! :)