Help Wildlife Rescues (prevention tips & volunteering)

fox and cub

Art by Angie

Nearly all wildlife casualties are due to a few reasons (litter, road traffic etc). So here are tips on how to prevent many casualties.

Avoid ‘rescuing creatures’ if parents are nearby

Follow a ‘watch and wait policy’. Often parents are nearby, and you don’t want to be rescuing creatures that don’t need rescuing. If in doubt, call your local wildlife rescue for advice.

Don’t drop litter

Use car trash bags, personal ashtrays and Monomaster (to store fishing line until you find a recycling bin).

Avoid netting (most has ‘holes too big’)

Nearly all netting on sale has holes too big to be safe. Use fruit protection bags (like mesh) instead but remove during pollination. Also avoid or store away rotary washing lines.

Foxes often get stuck in football nets. So store away when not in use, or sports clubs can invest in Goal Wall (made from recycled plastic) to avoid netting.

Avoid this store’s birdhouses (made from plastic which could overheat, plain untreated wood is best – decorative bright colours also attract predators). They must also be sited and cleaned properly.

Learn how to create safe havens for garden birds and how to stop birds flying into windows.

No-dig organic gardening

Practice no-dig gardening (this especially protects earthworms and stag beetles). Use non-toxic humane slug/snail deterrents.

Also read up on pet-friendly gardens.

Ensure ponds have sloping sides

Ensure wildlife ponds have sloping sides (again no 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.

Check under sheds etc before moving them 

Check under sheds/outbuildings/compost bins before moving/demolition (especially near end of hibernation).

Get expert help before town planning

Read building/planning info to help owls and bats. Town planners can help by not planting flowers in railings.

Be a wildlife-friendly driver

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). Read more on making roads safer for wildlife.

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:

For injured deer and badgers, also call the RSPCA and police (trained marksmen can humanely shoot suffering creatures).

Don’t move large creatures yourself, they could run off with injuries. Instead, cover with a blanket and keep quiet, until help arrives. 

Tips to help wildlife rescues

  • 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!) Wash to prevent infection with a microfiber filter.

Simon’s Last Wish (renovating Wildlife Aid hospital)

badger Lucy Pickett

Lucy Pickett

Wildlife Aid (Surrey) has helped hundreds of thousands of creatures, founded by a former city broker who sadly died due to aggressive cancer in June 2024. Shortly before his death, his daughter and others launched a campaign to renovate this hospital and protect surrounding land: Simon’s Last Wish.

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.

easyfundraising for 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).

More ways to help Wildlife Aid

The centre (which has over 300 volunteers) also offers placement for vet students. 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).

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.

Tiggywinkles (buy virtual gifts for a wildlife hospital)

sleeping hedgehog Caroline Smith

Caroline Smith

Tiggywinkles (Buckinghamshire) runs a nationwide emergency phone helpline and has treated almost 500,000 patients since opening.

All creatures are treated free of charge and released back to the wild. It not, they are released near the site to live in nature.

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.

Buy virtual gifts for Tiggywinkles

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.
  • 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!

easyfundraising for Tiggywinkles

You can also raise funds by signing 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.

Similar Posts