Thursday 10th August.
This morning member of staff Vanessa turned up with an injured fox cub she found dragging himself along the road by his front legs. He was unable to walk or stand and kept falling over to one side, so he went straight to the Vet for an examination. There appeared to be no spinal damage and no breaks anywhere so after a chat with our Fox man Paul at the Liverpool shelter we decided to see how he responds in the next 24 hours. If he recovers well, we will take him back to where he was found, otherwise he will go to the Liverpool shelter for more recovery time. One of this years cubs, he is perhaps 4 months old and has clearly been hit by a car, he may be in shock and badly bruised so the next 24 hours could well see a change in him.Fingers crossed.
The swallows in our barn have hatched a second clutch of eggs so we are looking forward to seeing the next babies when they leave the nest, and a newcomer has turned up to help himself to the horse feed A young Robin still with juvenile plumage has taken to arriving each afternoon when the feeds are being made up, he then stays around and eats his fill before the horses are brought in for their evening meal. Like most robins, he is a bold little guy who is unafraid of humans,probably assuming correctly they are generally a reliable food source!
Chestnut gelding and ex polo pony Moko had a bad bout of colic today necessitating a Vet visit.By the time Vet Ken arrived,poor Moko was lying down in pain, bathed in sweat but after an injection to ease his pain and to stop the stomach spasms,he began to recover . A big concern of colic is that there is impaction in the gut or it becomes twisted and that can have a fatal result.As I write this, he is on his feet again and looking much brighter. Colic is such a strange thing, there can be so many causes from change of diet to emotional upset but in 80 percent of cases there appears to be no reason for a bout of this potentially fatal problem. It is always a case of ‘get the Vet out FAST’’ and hope for the best whilst trying to keep the afflicted horse on his feet. I am so relieved he had no impaction and is getting better, I do confess to having had a feeling of foreboding after losing Dids just days ago. I was hoping and hoping that we were not about to lose another of our Equine friends so it is a huge relief to see Moko improving.
14th August:
Young Mr Foxy is improving after a few days on a pain killer and anti inflammatory treatment. Our Fox man in Liverpool said that he will either improve on this or if no signs of that, he may have to be put down so it is with great relief we see a positive change in him..Although he is still wobbly, he is able to stand on all four legs and is eating and drinking well.There is now a really good outlook for him though he is not,as yet, fit enough to be released.
Several months ago I was accused by certain people in this neighbourhood of taking in foxes and releasing them here! Apparently I was keeping them as pets! It is likely that someone had spotted my little dog Oliver in our fields. He is similar colour and size and is rather foxlike in his appearance. As if I would ever consider releasing foxes when I am surrounded by people who have no compunction about calling in men with guns and hounds to kill them. This little fox is the first one we have had here and I am most definitely NOT going to release him anywhere where his life will be at risk from gun happy people. It is interesting to note that those who called in the men with the guns are not local born families! In fact Mei told me that she has lived her life here and had never before experienced this wildlife destruction so close to home.Thats what happens when city people move to the country! It is not always the country people themselves who take umbrage at foxes. It can be the ‘Good Life’ imitators too.
15th August.
Everything is going wrong in the house at the moment.The toilet is blocked, the front door refuses to open, the electrics have gone in my bedroom and hall and the cooker has stopped working now! As for the garden, well all I can say is that there is no need to travel abroad to see a jungle, there is one right here in North Wales! I am truly overwhelmed with it all.
