Foxes: 7, Serena: Nil
Hello!
First, apologies (again) for my prolonged absence. I've had a few things on my mind in the last couple of weeks, which have been a bit worrying and distracting and not really the sort of thing you'd blog about.
Anyway, I thought I'd pop by to give you an update on the work I've been doing with the London Wildcare Trust. I've now been volunteering (one day a week) for over a month, and I'm absolutely in my element.
Here are some furry fellows - past and present - that the wildlife hospital has helped. These shots have been taken from the Trust's website and Facebook group:



This last pic is of Dog, one of the hospital's resident foxes. Dog was brought in as an orphaned fox cub several years ago.
Staff and volunteers are always very careful to ensure the animals don't become too comfortable with humans (so they're able to be released back into the wild). However, Dog 'imprinted' on the staff from day one, and decided every human was her friend. That meant, of course, that she couldn't be released; and she still behaves exactly like an affectionate dog, hence her name!In the last few weeks I've learnt so much about caring for British wildlife, and I feel very privilege to be involved. Some days I'm in the 'general ward', pitting my wits against wily foxes as I try to clean them out (I think the score is currently foxes: 7, Serena: Nil).
Other duties include scrubbing out the waterfowl ponds, feeding and watering the hedgehogs (try coaxing out one of those spiky bad boys...) and lots more.
For example, if you'd been wandering through south London last week, you may have found me on my hands and knees, in a suburban park, cutting the grass with a small pair of scissors.
What? No no, this wasn't a novel form of community service... the ducks feed by sifting through food floating in trays of water and mixed with grass. Someone had to get hold of that grass!
I'm pleased to say that from now on, I'll also be writing a regular column for the Trust's website. Aimed at children, it will explain exactly what British wildlife is up to during each month of the year.
And it will also include a 'Get stuck in!' section, highlighting action we can all take to help our local wildlife as the seasons change. I'll let you know when my first column is published online.
Finally - the London Wildcare Trust has just put together a 'wish list' of items and equipment it really needs to continue its amazing work. On the off-chance any Bill Gates/captains of industry are reading this, that wish list is here.
So if anyone has a commercial grade pop-up gazebo - or a 3.2Kva generator you're looking to get rid of, could you pop it in the post?
