Trevor’s Week: Drivers are causing suffering to gulls

Last year we were able to leave them along and they flew without any intervention but this year they nested late, as most wildlife has, and they were not going to be able to fly out before the school closed for the summer break, so rather than see then starve we decided to step in and move them to a new home.

The staff at the school normally feed and water them and have little pools for them to swim in and paddle but with the school closing they would clearly would not survive. So they were rounded up along with mum and taken along the road to the Valley Road Ponds at Newhaven where they have now settled in nicely.

The seven ducklings found wandering on South Road, Hailsham last week are doing very well. They are much bigger and we are moving them to an outside pen this week.

We have had at least five road casualty gulls in the past week which have been run over on purpose by motorists aiming for and not slowing down for fledgling gulls. If you are one of them you are sick!

If you see anyone aim for and purposefully run over a gull or in fact any animal please phone the police as they are causing unnecessary suffering by doing so.

Try to remember to take the registration number. If you have netting on your building please remember that you have a legal responsibility to maintain it and deal with anything which becomes trapped in it.

Any trapped animal or bird has the same rights as a captive animal under the Animal Welfare Act so it must have freedom to move, have access to food and water, if the owner of a building does not deal with the trapped bird within a reasonable period of time after being informed, they can be prosecuted.

If you notice a bird trapped in netting speak to the people in the building but if they don’t deal with the trapped bird within a reasonable period of time you can report them to the police and the RSPCA.

Little Frank, a Collared dovelet, came into care this week, found down on the ground at a farm, his crop was totally empty and he was telling us in no uncertain terms that he was starving. A real little character this one. He is doing well and Kathy has had him at home to building him up slowly.