The arrival of 14 mallard ducklings on the pond today heralded the first day of spring, although it was so cold and icy it might well have been the middle of winter. Two hours later I spotted a newly born baby moorhen drowning, too weak to climb on to the little island where its mother and siblings were nesting. I rushed off to the chicken shed to put on my waders and promptly marched into the pond to the rescue. However I had ill judged the depth which was a lot more than I had anticipated: the freezing muddy water cascaded over the top of my waders down to my feet and soon I was up to my waist in it- a rather unpleasant experience! But I did get the tiny moorhen and after a bit of slipping and sliding finally succeeded in clambering- soaked – out of the pond. Straight back to the house, I stripped off my smelly, sodden clothes, put the little bird in a large plastic bowl with a tiny saucer of water and put it over the radiator in the cat-free spare room to thaw out. I then headed up to the bathroom to wash off any potential bugs that might still be lurking on my skin and started the day again with a different set of jeans and a new sweater. The good news – my ungainly rescue did succeed in saving the moorhen who is now squeaking rather loudly and will be put back with its mother tomorrow.
When you keep animals each season brings new problems and the spring is no exception with geese hissing, turkeys attacking, hens pecking and –worst of all- rams ramming. Yesterday we had rescued a baby lamb that was dying in the field of hypothermia. A spot of Bach’s Rescue Remedy, a hot water bottle and my hairdryer brought it back to life and it was successfully returned to the farmer’s mother who was going to have to bottle feed it at 4 hourly intervals. The bad news was that overnight the lamb’s healthy sister was eaten by the foxes leaving its mother totally distraught. In an attempt to save the other 2 baby lambs in the field I volunteered to put the ewes and their babies in an empty stable overnight. “It’s more complicated than that “said Jim, the farmer” But we can try”. We both rattled food bowls and ewes, lambs and unfortunately rams came running and no matter how we tried we could not separate the flock. Suddenly the Jacob ram we call Goliath with the huge horns charged at me. Fortunately the food bowl acted like a shield and took the brunt of the attack but even so the force of his attack sent me flying and I beat a hasty retreat. Sammie ,the black ram , meanwhile decided that he too would protect the ewes and we yelled a warning to Jim in the nick of time as both rams attempted to mow him down. However, successfully alerted , Jim outwitted them and he too made a hasty exit after telling them in no uncertain terms who was boss. Nothing could be done but possibly the 2 rams were aggressive enough with the foxes overnight because both lambs were still intact in the morning. Apart from that my finger was bitten by a donkey this week who thought it was part of the hay I was carrying and a potentially pregnant rescued Shetland kicked me when I felt her side so I shall attempt to go carefully for the rest of the week!
The rescue of the 2 donkeys, 6 Shetlands (2 probably pregnant), one pony, 2 horses and 16 cats has been very tiring and problematical. The lady whose animals they were meant well but did not have the funds to keep them as they should be kept. As a result all the equines were in dire need of worming, were starving and initially screamed and kicked each other. Fortunately now they are feeling well and now that food is regular peace and quiet reigns once more. The two large untrained horses went off to my expert friend Sue for some serious handling and 8 of the cats went off to my friend Monique at Cat and Rabbit Rescue as with the other 8 I was absolutely full up. 4 have gone into a cattery compartment near the barn and another 4 terribly matted Persians have been in my bathroom! The cats have needed diarrhea sorted out with Panacur Granules and 2 felines only 5 years old have had teeth extractions, the Persians had to be de-matted under sedation their coats were so dreadful. One- unbelievably had 12 teeth out and the mouth of the other was so bad the vet initially thought he had mouth cancer. The owner had kept approximately 30 cats in a 2 bedroom terraced house- a little overcrowde to say the least- but as she had to sell up and move in to a rented flat most have been found new homes. The good news is that they are now all in good health and enjoying life. The worst moment was discovering that a little Shetland was entire and with the timing crucial- good weather but no flies about- we had him castrated in a stable by the vet and much to our credit neither myself or Melanie or Peter, my 2 helpers fainted during the operation!
Something I learnt this week: my helper Kerry asked if Hedgehog Rescue could re-home a young hedgehog with us. When I was asked what wild life there was here and I replied that there were foxes and badgers they went ashen- apparently hedgehogs are badgers’ favourite meals. So that’s why I haven’t seen any hedgehogs around!
BIG NEWS: My apologies to anyone who has tried to send me e mails over the past month as I could neither send nor receive any. Fortunately Tim Cowell who is the husband of Melanie, my assistant ,came to the rescue and sorted out the lap-top. But not only that, Tim is an ITC wizard and he offered to design me a whole new web-site as well with far more pictures of myself and- more importantly- the animals! It came out on Sunday.
SHOW-BIZ:
We went to see “Equus” in London’s West End with Richard Griffiths and Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) and I was very impressed with the quality of the acting The play is very alarming but it is beautifully directed and well worth seeing.
We saw Peter Egan playing Sherlock Holmes in “Hound of the Baskervilles” as a treat at the Theatre Royal Brighton on my birthday. It is a role that suits him to a tee with Philip Franks an excellent foil as Watson. Both performances were splendid and we had at the thoroughly enjoyable evening.
My friend Lorraine Chase came to stay for a weekend and was a wonderful guest even mucking in and helping with the animals. We both said how great it would be to do a play together again.
“Just a Gigolo” the play I am producing with my friend Nikki Cole progresses well and hopefully there will be some definite news on casting and dates in my April blog
That’s all the news for the moment,
All the best,
Alexandra Bastedo
Copyright Alexandra Bastedo.
