At Friends of the Animals, some days the phone starts ringing at 10am and barely takes a breath until 5. Some calls are about animals people love. Others are about animals no one seems to own. All of them matter.
Late morning, we were alerted to a badly injured gull in Shanklin. Thankfully, our volunteer Tony dropped everything and got the gull safely to the vets.
Later in the afternoon came a more delicate situation: baby birds were crying out from inside a nest box. The homeowners had discovered a dead adult bird nearby and had been watching for hours, hoping another parent might return to feed them. None did, and the cries continued. So they called us.
We phoned Lorna at Isle of Wight Bird Rescue to see if she would be able to take them in. Without hesitation, she said yes.
While that was unfolding, another call came in: a cat had been hit by a car on Yarmouth Road and urgently needed vet care. Chris headed out immediately to get the cat to Carisbrooke Vets. Meanwhile, the baby birds arrived at the office.
Once the cat was safely dropped off, Helen 2 headed off with the nest box to Lorna—screwdriver in hand to open the bird box, as pre-warned. None of us quite expected to see was in inside the tiny bird box: nine coal tit chicks!
Massive thanks to Lorna, who’s now feeding not just the birds she already had, but an extra nine mouths every two hours. And to Carisbrooke Vets for seeing the cat immediately. We’re hoping they find a microchip and a family to call.
It was exhausting. It was chaotic. And yes, it was absolutely worth it. Just another day at Friends of the Animals!
Posted on May 7th, 2025