It has been a good start with 50 casualties up to the middle of februaury. I am glad to say they were not all pigeons and hedgehogs. To list just a few, we have had three foxes, two tawny and one little owls, and a badger.

The badger was brought in by Chris Allen, and was not a straightforward rescue, as Chris had to lower himself down a manhole on a rope to reach the trapped animal.

A Wirral ranger brought in a lapwing with a broken wing (found in Wales).

Two lads brought in a Harris hawk that had been lost by a falconer, but unfortunately this one had to euthanased as one of its legs had been completely severed.

Our biggest surprise, or should I say smallest, was a leveret. It was tiny and could have bee no more than a day old. It was brought to use by a lady from Great Budworth. She said that she discovered the young hare sitting in the middle of the lawn shortly after the beagles had been around. She put it out overnight but found it sitting in the open the next day, so she took it in and brought it to us.

A long-eared bat was also admitted, probably a first year juvenile. I am pleased to say it is doing very well.  It has joined another long-eared bat in the flight, and the two of them have been observed flying together. They are sharing the flight with two pipistrelles, and all will be released this spring.

We still have six swans that we have overwintered. These are due to be released in April on a private lake. They are all last year's cygnets that were reared in the hospital.

Finally, we have just received our first litter of squirrel kittens. This means that the two-hourly feeds have started.