Rescuer answering 999 call of the wild

For almost 30 years Jean Thorpe has devoted her time to looking after animals. She shared some of her experiences in 2012 with Lucy Oates.

JANUARY

As a recognised badger expert, Jean is regularly called out by the police to examine sites where badger setts have been interfered with and also provides evidence in prosecutions against those responsible. In January, she was called to three different sites where badger digging was thought to have taken place and North Yorkshire Police were able to take action against the culprits in two of the cases.

FEBRUARY

An adult badger came to stay with Jean after being found in a snare near the North Yorkshire Moors. She was given antibiotics, and released back into the wild fit and well. Jean also collected a young otter injured in a road traffic accident from a vet in the East Riding.

MARCH

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Jean cared for an adult red kite found grounded and ‘dopey’ near Pickering. An X-ray showed that it hadn’t been shot and didn’t have any broken bones, which led Jean to conclude that it had been poisoned. She said: “A stunning bird, which came right with time, food and warmth.”

APRIL

Spring brought a variety of baby birds and animals. Visitors included baby blackbirds; a common scoter, which is a large sea duck; orphaned badger cubs found close to a busy road; an eagle owl that needed ‘fattening up’; and two adult badgers found in snares near the North Yorkshire coast.

MAY

Jean cared for numerous ducklings; several juvenile tawny owls; a young swift that needed a little help to take flight; and a baby stoat that was so young she still had her eyes closed. On a happier note, Jean was able to reunite a young oystercatcher, brought in with an injured leg, with its mother after taking it back to the site where it was found.

JUNE

Jean was inundated with ducklings, young hedgehogs and baby blackbirds, as well as caring for a juvenile little owl, one of her favourite birds, which needed ‘feeding up’.

JULY

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Some of the ducklings brought in earlier in the year were ready for release. Jean also cared for two swans injured when they flew into overhead wires, later released at Wheldrake Ings Nature Reserve. Three swan cygnets found in polluted water were not so lucky and Jean was unable to save them.

More and more young hedgehogs arrived each day.

AUGUST

August brought a flurry of young barn owls, which were all successfully reared and released. Jean also cared for hedgehogs suffering from an unpleasant condition called fly strike, which occurs in warm weather when flies lay eggs in wounds or damp areas of the hedgehog’s body, such as under the armpits. In such cases, Jean is usually able to save the victim by cleaning away any fly eggs or maggots and giving them food and rest.

SEPTEMBER

Jean came to the aid of a female marsh harrier found on the Yorkshire Wolds. It is thought that the bird had flown into overhead wires. She was unable to hunt and becoming very thin.

Jean said: “I rested her in a quiet pen, fed her well and left her to recover. I felt the prick of tears as she was released; she went so well, a beautiful big bird in the sky.” Tawny owls and kestrels injured in road traffic accidents were also successfully rehabilitated and released this month.

OCTOBER

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Autumn heralded the arrival of a great spotted woodpecker suffering from concussion after flying into a window.

The influx of hedgehogs and young barn owls continued and Jean also cared for a number of birds of prey injured on the roads as a result of the darker nights.

A cygnet had a miraculous escape after being hit by a train and was soon well enough to be released at Wheldrake Ings Nature Reserve. An adult swan that Jean describes as an ‘old friend’ returned after flying into overhead wires. It was released after time to rest.

NOVEMBER

Jean was called out to retrieve a badger that had suffered a broken back in a road traffic accident.

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She said: “A kind couple stayed close by in their car so I was able to locate the badger quickly. Sadly, she had to be put to sleep at the vets.”

She also helped two swans, one of which was seen pacing a busy road near a disused gas compound.

DECEMBER

Unusually high water levels on the River Derwent left a number of badger setts flooded.

Jean said: “I heard of badgers seen in odd places, such as in hay bales and buildings, sheltering from the floods.”

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The festive period brought three young otter cubs to Jean’s door.

She explained: “I got a phone call from a householder in the hamlet of Fryton.

“They’d been putting their guinea pigs in when a small otter cub followed them to the hutch.”

Animal services always in demand

Jean works closely with the police, the RSPCA, local vets and other organisations, and her services are always in demand.

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She cares for hundreds of wild birds and animals each year, and every season poses different issues.

She even found herself faced with two young roe deer fawns last year. They arrived separately, but Jean believes they’d have stood a better chance of survival left in the wild: “I wish people would realise they should be left alone in situ as they’re hard to rear. One only lasted a few days and the other went to an RSPCA wildlife hospital in Cheshire.”

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