How to Help Your Local (very busy) Wildlife Rescues
The best way to help is to know how to prevent the reasons for most casualties.
- Avoid ‘rescuing’ creatures that have parents nearby, also read about safe havens for garden birds and how to stop birds flying into windows.
- Don’t drop litter (including car windows) and use a personal ashtray and Monomaster (to store fishing line until you find a recycling bin). Obey the voluntary ban on lead shot (which kills wildfowl).
- In the garden, store rotary washing lines and football nets away, when not in use. Practice no-dig gardening and use non-toxic humane slug/snail deterrents. Read more on wildlife friendly gardens.
- Ensure wildlife ponds have sloping sides (and again are free from netting) and water bowls have shallow sides (add a small plank or stones, as bee/butterfly platforms). Cover pools when not in use, and use FrogLog and Critter Skimmer to help creatures escape.
- Check under sheds/outbuildings/compost bins before moving/demolition (especially near end of hibernation). Read building/planning info to help owls and bats. Town planners can also help by not planting flowers in railings (deer can get their heads stuck).
- Keep to speed limits, be alert at dawn/dusk, use full beam at night (dipped lights are best in fog, rain or snow, or else light could reflect back and startle). Keep your car in good condition. Read more on making roads safer for wildlife.
A safe haven for English wildlife
The British Wildlife Centre is a haven for fox, deer, owls and otters, along with pine martens and red squirrels. Pine martens are natural predators of grey squirrels, and rewilding is one idea to save red squirrels.
It also is providing protected colonies for other endangered species like dormice and water voles, by using protected areas (rather than killing everything in site).
Simon’s Last Wish (Wildlife Aid’s new sanctuary)
Wildlife Aid (Surrey) is a major wildlife rescue charity that has helped hundreds of thousands of creatures. It was founded by former city broker Simon Cowell MBE (not that one, though he did say his name got restaurant reservations) who sadly died due to aggressive cancer in June 2024.
Need help? If within the catchment area, contact Wildlife Aid with a full description, and ideally send a photo or video via email or app, for them to assess the situation.
A passionate and outspoken advocate for animal welfare (he did not like ‘TV entertainment shows about animals nor zoos), Simon himself was often attacked, but knew it was only because his patients were scared.
He was bitten by hedgehogs, gored by deer (one antler missed his jugular by around an inch) and one owl sunk his talons into Simon’s scalp.
Shortly before his death (that’s him above with actress Joanna Page, who is training to be a rescuer at the sanctuary), his daughter and others launched a campaign to renovate the wildlife rescue and protect surrounding land.
How to Help Wildlife Aid
The easiest way to help is to set up an account at easyfundraising and set Wildlife Aid as your cause. Then each time you buy something from participating stores (or services), a portion goes to them (at no cost to you, and loyalty points are not affected).
You can donate at Just Giving to reach the target of £4 million. Or select ‘Wildlife Aid Foundation’ at Charities Aid Foundation and tick the box, to donate anonymously. Either way, tick the Gift Aid Box.
The centre (which has over 300 volunteers) also offers placement for vet students. Read latest rescue stories (a fox that fell in a swimming pool, and a hibernating dormouse found at the bottom of a recycling bin).
If you live within a 45-minute drive from Leatherhead and have suitable land, they welcome hedgehog release sites. These must have suitable cover and food, shallow sloping water sources and no chain linked fences (and be unsecure about for hogs to roam up to an acre at night (the size of around 8 average gardens).
Today his Leatherhead charity in Surrey is a legacy that rescues over 20,000 animals each year, with most released Before he died, Simon asked us to ‘do one thing’ each day, like picking up a piece of litter on the street and placing it in a secure bin. Or creating hedgehog highways. Or being a wildlife-friendly driver. If we all did this (in a country of 68 million people), wildlife rescues would have far fewer casualties to rescue and operate on.
Man is the common factor in almost every animal we treat. Every animal we release back to the wild can then breed and increase populations. I want to make sure that every wild life who’s found gets given another chance – or the kindness of a stranger in their final moments. Simon Cowell
Tiggywinkles (the world’s busiest wildlife rescue)
Tiggywinkles in Haddenham (a large village with four ponds) is England’s best-known wildlife hospital that takes in local creatures, and runs a nationwide emergency phone helpline. It saves all creatures (not just hedgehogs).
Each year over five million animals and birds are injured, usually due to something done by man (intentional harm, fishing hooks, litter, netting, strimmers etc). Read how to plant wildlife-friendly gardens to help.
This specialist hospital has treated almost 500,000 patients since opening, and on a given busy day, may have over 1600 creatures on site. All are treated free of charge and released back to the wild, if able.
Some creatures unable to be released remain in natural conditions near the site, and euthanasia is used only as a last resort, if the creature is not going to get better.
Founded by a couple with no medical knowledge, the co-founder eventually wrote a wildlife rescue manual, that is now used by vets. It also runs training courses for volunteers, plus diplomas for wildlife rescuers, vets and vet nurses.
Most creatures are returned to the wild. Those not able to (like blind hedgehogs or three-legged deer) live in near-natural conditions in the grounds, where they can live the rest of their lives in safety.
An easy way to raise funds is to sign up with easyfundraising (nominate Tiggywinkles, then anytime you buy things with shops or services, it donates a portion of profits, at no cost to you). Or donate anonymously via Charities Aid Foundation.
Buy a virtual gift for Tiggywinkles!
Rather than buy another tea towel or mug, you can buy a virtual gift to help Tiggywinkles. These include a link to videos to show your gift has helped:
- An x-ray for an injured hedgehog. Around two thirds of the 3000 hedgehogs at the centre need an x-ray to check for broken bones, abdominal trauma or bowel abnormalities, so vets know how to treat them.
- Treat a hedgehog with balloon syndrome (the cause is unknown but many hogs suffer from this, so they can’t curl up, making them vulnerable to predators). The treatment involves extracting air from the body, and a course of antibiotics, along with fluids and other treatments.
- Feed a fox cub – this covers the cost of feeding sick, injured and orphaned cubs, starting on milk and then proper food, to make them strong enough to be released to the wild.
- Mend a bird of prey’s injured wing (over 200 injured birds including owls, red kites and kestrels are treated yearly at Tiggywinkles, half with wing injuries. It’s really important to mend these properly, as they need perfect wings to fly silently at night, so prey can’t hear them.
- Raven enrichment – these are some of the world’s most intelligent birds, so while they are in the wildlife hospital, this gift pays for enrichment activities, to stop them getting bored.
- Dental treatment for hedgehogs (this pays for specialist treatment that can scale and polish hedgehog teeth, to prevent pain that can stop them from eating, if untreated).
- Lungworm treatment for hedgehogs and foxes (many creatures arrive with this, which can kill if not treated). This gift pays for a quick faecal sample to verify infestation, then treatment. You can also buy gapeworm treatment for owls (a throat parasite that can affect eating, drinking and breathing).
- Deer bandages (and for other creatures) to help those who arrive with limb injuries due to road collisions, fence entrapments or dog bites.
- You can even buy a bucket of maggots, to feed the 400 baby birds who cry out all day to be fed every 15 minutes from dawn to dust – they get through seven buckets a week!
The history of Tiggywinkles wildlife hospital
In 1978 there were few wildlife rescues for injured creatures, and Les and Sue Stocker (with their son Colin) began taking in casualties.
As even vets did not have much training (today you can usually take injured creatures to vets who treat them for free or refer to wildlife rescues). they began becoming flooded in inmates: toads, badgers, deer, wrens, owls and swans.
Together with the help of a local vet, they started to learn how the biology of wildlife differs, funding work from their savings and then eventually becoming a registered charity in 1983.
Things became very stressful in the 1984 drought, when they seem to have England’s whole hedgehog population arriving at their door. After releasing a campaign on how to help hedgehogs, soon thousands of people were learning what not to feed (bread or milk) and what to do instead – bowls of water and meat (not fish) pet food.
That’s who Tiggywinkles became known as ‘the hedgehog charity’, although they help other creatures. However the publicity did help to fund England’s first bespoke hedgehog hospital, named ‘St Tiggywinkles!’
This then expanded into a custom hospital which is still used today. It has perfected techniques to help so many species that vets and other wildlife rescues take courses and lectures to gain their knowledge.
The legacy of Les Stocker MBE
Les Stocker MBE has since died, leaving behind a huge legacy that will help wildlife forever. A humble man, he was even honoured by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons as an Honorary Associate (despite no medical training), and by the time he passed, was regarded as one of the world’s leading authorities on British wildlife.
He was author of the book Practical Wildlife Care, which even today is the gold standard manual – gift a copy to your local wildlife rescue and vet surgery!
Les was so knowledgeable, he even knew how to reach a toad how to use its tongue, to catch insects.
Born in Battersea (south London), his only access to wildlife growing up was on Wimbledon Common, and his previous career was in electrical engineering. Until he gained the knowledge, he would often invite other experts in (once asking a bemused dentist to operate on a badger’s teeth, while watching along to learn).
Who to Call (when wildlife needs help)
Keep a large box with punched holes in your car boot with towels (no tassels) and thick gloves. Call wildlife rescues and rehabilitators (vets can also take in casualties, you don’t have to pay). For creatures needing specialist advice:
- Tiggywinkles or Wildlife Aid (all creatures).
- British Hedgehog Preservation Society
- Bat Conservation Society
- Raptor Rescue (for birds of prey)
- Amphibian & Reptile Conservation
- British Marine Life Rescue
- London wildlife rescue help
For injured deer and badgers, also call the RSPCA and police (trained marksmen can humanely shoot suffering creatures, if there is a long wait). Don’t move creatures yourself, most are strong and could run off with injuries. Instead, cover with a blanket and keep quiet, until help arrives.
Simple Tips to Help Wildlife Rescue Shelters
- Offer practical skills (from volunteering to transport).
- Some welcome old newspapers (not glossy magazines) for lining cages and temporary bedding.
- Some accept leftover medical supplies (not expired/opened) like bandages, new syringes and disposable gloves.
- Donate anonymously through Charities Aid Foundation, add Gift Aid if you’re a UK taxpayer).
- easyfundraising is another option (just sign up, then shops and services donate a portion of profits from each sale, to your chosen cause). Loyalty points are not affected.
- Donate books: How to Hold Animals or rescue manuals: Practical Wildlife Care and Wildlife Search & Rescue.
- Donate an Armor Hand Protector (created by a vet, after an angry patient bit her! You can wash these to prevent infection with a microfibre filter.
