Busy year for Shropshire wildlife rescue centre
A Shropshire wildlife rescue centre has had a very busy year, with admissions topping the normal numbers weeks before the year is out.
Cuan Wildlife Rescue Centre in Much Wenlock has had a number of different and interesting admissions, some with happy endings and some not so good.
One of the animals that has been looked after at the centre is a hedgehog that was impaled on a curtain pole. Manager Fran Hill revealed that, luckily, the pole missed every vital organ in the animal's body.
She said: "It's doing remarkably well, he was a very very lucky hedgehog, just managed to miss every vital organ, he's been brilliant he's had so much messing about with.
"He's been having daily cleaning and poking and prodding, definitely on the road to recovery, he's made it.
"He just needs to put on a bit more weight before he can be released."
Another animal being cared for at the centre recently is a swan that was found down a storm drain severely malnourished.
Mrs Hill said: "He was found down there by a member of a public who was walking their dog and the dog realised something was down there and the RSPCA went down and found him.
"I'd say he was there for some time he was deathly thin, they don't go like that over night.
"He'd clawed away his claws on his feet so he'd been scrabbling. He's ready to go now, he's done incredibly well."
A blackbird has been looked after by the centre after being injured – Mrs Hill suspected it was from a pellet gun.
She said: "I'm not sure how that's going to pan out, he'd been shot underneath his wing and there isn't an exit wound so it's still in there, he's very sore at the moment so won't move his wing. I'm unsure of his outcome."
A wood pigeon is under the care of staff after possibly hitting a window.
Mrs Hill said: "It is a bit wobbly and not very well."
She added: "We have had some very surprising admissions this year such as water birds which wouldn't normally be found in Shropshire but clearly were coming across our borders.
"Our numbers have been up quite significantly this year, we've exceeded our normal casualty intake already, we have been incredibly busy, the summer has been excessive, so a good year but a very very busy one. We've still got between 40 and 50 hedgehogs, at the moment."
