Blog | Brockswood Animal Sanctuary

Dec 31, 2021

2021: A Happy Reflection...

As time seems to rush by it’s easy to become so caught up in the here and now that we can sometimes forget what we’ve achieved, so as the year comes to an end, we’re reflecting on our accomplishments over the last twelve months!

It was a shaky start to the year, with us not being able to open when we'd hoped. Many of you fought for us to open our doors, along with the countless other organisations that were impacted by the ruling to remain closed at the time, and after many petitions and letters to MPs, we were finally given the green light! We opened with so many changes; an online booking system, a one-way system, a no feeding/petting rule, to name a few. You wore your masks, you sanitised your hands, you distanced from other families and our staff – you remained so patient with us, and because of this; because you followed these rules, we were allowed to remain open, and we are still here today when many other similar organisations sadly aren’t. We were genuinely scared for a while, and thanks to you, our animals are still safe in their Forever Home.

We’ve said some sad goodbyes to some of our animals, but we’ve also welcomed some new ones. One of our dearest success stories this year was the rescue of little Ollie the Golden Guernsey who we had heard was due to be euthanised within 24 hours if a home could not be found; you rallied together and helped us in under an hour to raise the funds needed to bring him to the sanctuary, and he was with us the very next day! He has since settled in and even fallen in love with Harper the Pygmy Goat! We can’t imagine Brockswood without this cheeky character now.

After years of talking about wanting to help dogs in some way, we finally did it with your help – we built our brand-new Secure Dog Run and we’re over the moon at how successful you and your dogs have made it! We can’t tell you what a pleasure it is to meet all your waggy friends and we so look forward to seeing them here. Thank you so much for supporting this new venture, we can’t wait to build on this and make it even better for you.

We hosted our Annual Dog Show this year after having to cancel the year before and you helped us make this the biggest and most successful show we have ever had! We still break out into a smile when we think of that wonderful day – thank you!

We built a brand-new aviary for Jasmine and Raj our peafowl, who needed somewhere to call their own home after they started to outgrow their aviary, which was also really beginning to show its old age. This is our largest aviary to date, and we are so proud of what we have achieved for them. We have plans to completely upgrade and modernise all our aviaries for our rescued birds and with your help, we’ll make this dream a reality!

We gained a new team member this year with the addition of Rachel, who joined us as our first full-time Work Placement Coordinator & Animal Keeper! Rachel began volunteering with us when lockdown hit and we needed helping hands more than ever. Like all our amazing volunteers (such as Matt who won the One Voice for Animals Volunteer of the Year Award!) she was eager to learn, worked hard, and fit straight into our wonderful little team. Education is so important in our work and we have been providing work experience at the sanctuary for animal care students for many years now. We’re picking ourselves up following the damage the pandemic has done and going a step further in our education work, and Rachel has been taking charge along with our other team members who are sharing their skills and experience with students and hopefully lots of other people in the future as we branch out our education plans further into the community.

We’ve also been joined by Adina, in another new role here as our Conservation Intern. We’ve always been very passionate about conservation at the sanctuary, and Adina is helping to turn our conservation dreams into reality – we can’t wait to show you some of the things we’re working on together!

These are just some of this year’s achievements, but every day is an achievement to us. Every day our animals have a safe and happy home thanks to your support, and we really couldn’t do this without you! We have so much planned for next year and we’re looking forward to getting started on making some of these plans a reality. We’ve always had big plans for our little sanctuary, and we believe that we can help to touch so many lives for the better. Together, with your support, we can make this happen!

Claire Thompson

Nov 29, 2021

A busy week for our sanctuary Vets!

As a sanctuary, we would be lost without the support of our vets, and today we’d like to highlight the work of our amazing vets at Meadows Farm who have had a busy couple of weeks with us here! They rushed straight out to us when Geraldine the sheep gave us a scare with the first stages of bloat, and has since been seen twice - we’re happy to say that final checkup gave her the all-clear and she was able to go back out with her friends! Following this worrying event, vets Frances & Sophie gave our team a training session on what to do if we have a sheep or goat with bloat again - bloat is very serious and left untreated, the animal will die, so it is critical that we are able to step in to provide this first aid while we’re waiting for the vets to arrive!

Geraldine waiting for the all-clear so that she could be reunited with her pals!

They have also given Ollie the goat a check-up (he’s fine!), as well as Jax and Evangeline the Sheep who we have been a little worried about and now receiving treatment.

We also had a very busy day vaccinating all of our sheep and goats, helping to keep them safe and healthy over the winter - a particularly critical time for many of our older animals here!

The team at Meadows Farm are always at the end of a phone any time of day if we need them for help or advice, and we know our rescued animals are in the best hands when they need that extra care that we can’t provide.

You can help to support our animals’ veteriary care by making a donation (please let us know that you would like it to be used for this) and helping us to purchase the veterinary medicines and supplies needed to keep our animals healthy and happy, and help to make our poorly animals better!

Adina Ali

Oct 21, 2021

National Reptile Awareness Day

This Thursday the 21st is National Reptile Awareness Day, where reptile enthusiasts all over the country will be celebrating and talking all things scaly.

Herpetology is the study of both reptiles and amphibians, our four-legged tetrapods that have walked the Earth for around 400 million years and came about during the Devonian period. The Greek word ‘herpeton’ refers to a creeping animal, a term generally used to describe these cunning creatures.

Reptiles are cold-blooded vertebrates identified by their scales, leathery/hard-shelled eggs, and a bony skeleton. This includes turtles, lizards, snakes, crocodilians and even birds!

Evolution and Dinosaurs

Of course, we can’t forget dinosaurs! The ancient reptiles that dominated the land around 201 million years ago during the Jurassic period. Around 65 million years ago, most dinosaurs became extinct except for some archosaur species that included crocodiles, alligators, and “feathered dinosaurs”.

A fossil of these feathered dinosaurs is shown in the picture below, and these eventually evolved into birds. Currently, modern-day birds are a very diverse group with over 10,000 species globally.

Fossil cast of a Sinornithosaurus millenii

Human Threats

One of the main reasons for the decline in UK reptile populations is a loss of habitat. Reptiles are terrestrial organisms that like to live in woodlands, grasslands, wetlands, and shrubs. However, due to urbanization, poor agricultural methods and pesticides, these natural areas are becoming destroyed.

Groups such as turtles and terrapins are particularly targeted by predators taking eggs from their nests as well as by humans when reptiles are trapped in fishing equipment.

Common UK Reptiles

Common Lizard

(Scientific Name: Zootoca vivipara)

böhringer friedrich, CC BY-SA 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons

Conservation status: least concern – wide distribution, tolerates a range of habitats

Protected by national legislation
Current population trend unknown – more common in some European countries than others
Conservation actions for land and water protection

Native to Ireland. Population found in Dudley.

Habitat: Terrestrial. Forests, grasslands, wetlands

Diet: Small invertebrates

Threats: Habitat loss due to agriculture, urbanization, tourism facilities

Barred Grass Snake

(Scientific name: Natrix helvetica)

Grass Snake rescued by Proteus Reptile Trust and released at Brockswood Animal Sanctuary

Conservation status: Lower risk/least concern

Current population trend unspecified, lack of reliable information. Protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981
In 2017, the barred grass snake was found in the UK to be different to the grass snake found in other eastern European countries. So, it was reclassified as a separate species.

Diet: amphibians, fish, small mammals, birds, worms, tadpoles, newts.

Habitat: Terrestrial. Wetlands, dry grasslands, freshwater, farmland, damp woodlands.

Threats: Habitats in decline (egg-laying sites), amphibian prey in decline

Adder

(Vipera berus)

Benny Trapp, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Conservation status: Least concern – tolerates a wide range of habitats

Large global population, this varies based on country and habitat. Population is decreasing in Germany and extinct in Italy.
Protected by national legislation
Recent population declines in central England
Native to Europe.

Diet: small mammals, lizards, amphibians, birds.

Habitat: Terrestrial. Forests, grasslands, wetlands, cliffs and mountains.

Threats: Habitat loss due to urbanization, agricultural methods.

Red-eared Terrapin

(Trachemys scripta elegans)

Conservation status: Least concern - globally widespread, tolerates a range of habitats

Native to the USA and Bermuda

Diet: Omnivorous. Insects, plants, fish.

Habitat: still and slow-flowing freshwater.

Threats: Habitat loss, crab pot trapping, nest predation, road mortality, insecticides and herbicides used around wetland habitats.

Conservation

Species such as the barred grass snake sometimes lay eggs in compost heaps, as the high temperatures during decomposition make a good environment for incubation. Making your own compost heap in your garden would both provide more egg-laying sites for grass snakes and allow you the possibility of seeing a wild snake!

The adder can be susceptible to collection for the pet trade as the UK’s only venomous snake. Conservation of this species includes monitoring populations in nature reserves, habitat management as well as raising awareness of adders and what to do when you come across one. Adders are generally non-aggressive to humans, but they should be treated with respect and left alone if found.

Red-eared terrapins were transported to the UK from the USA to be used as pets in the 1980s during the ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ show. They are classed as an invasive species, as they could possibly outcompete and threaten native species to the UK, and the public are encouraged not to release them into the wild.

When nearing the 5th of November, small mammals and reptiles alike are looking for a suitable habitat to hibernate in over the Winter. It is around this time people are usually building bonfires, which also make suitable woodpile homes for wildlife. For this reason, it’s best to build bonfires right before lighting them. Always check underneath your bonfire for resident wildlife!