Poor old Billy!

Poor old Billy had a bit of an accident last night! He went out on his bike at night to look for some urban foxes, but fell off and hurt his wrist! Poor Billy! He wasn't wearing any reflective or fluorescent clothing, so wasn't really being safe. If we had been there, we wouldn't have been much help either as our first aid training wasn't up to date. Oh dear!

 

We realised that it has been really important for the WPIT team to renew their first aid certificates, in case this happens again. They have received training from St John's ambulance and learned how to respond to different situations. We had to show what we would do if different accidents happened.

We remembered to follow the DR ABC rule when checking people who have had an accident. This means we check for dangers, response, airways are clear, breathing and consciousness. Once we remembered this, we practised putting people in the recovery position if they are unconscious.

Then we put on our protective gloves to deal with bleeding and apply dressings. 

After we had mastered the bandages, we learned how to make slings in cas esomeone had a broken arm. That would have helped Billy! 

Harling Nature Reserve Inspection

This morning, the WPIT inspection team have been out to the Harling Nature Reserve to see if any work needs doing. They were pleased to see that the new portable information centre had been erected and looked big enough for groups of about 10 children. This would give them enough room to spread out any books or pads. 

Later in the day, the WPIT team inspected the nature reserve for wild flowers, to see if they could create a quiz for children. They needed to see which ones were the most common. 

They completed a survey and learned that some wild flowers are quite prolific, like ox-eye daisies, and some are less common, like forget-me-nots. 

 

Advice for Billy

The WPIT team have some great advice for Backwoods Bill to capture nocturnal animals in the wildlife park. They have prepared some video messages to help him.

Backwoods Billy Baxter

WPIT have had a bit of a dilemma. The team are very busy with looking after the many wildlife areas that we help to conserve, but a request has come in from a visiting wildlife expert. Backwoods Bill has been putting out his cameras in one of our wildlife areas, but has failed to get any footage. What on Earth are we doing wrong? Can we help him, even though we are very busy? 

One of our camera crew, who used to work for the RSPB, could possibly help as he has caught lots of owls on camera before now.

The WPIT team have generously decided that they can give up some of their time to produce tips for Billy to help him have more success in the wild. They will send him their tips via email, video message or facetime if he can get wifi.  

The Wildlife Protection and Investigation Team

The WPIT are really pleased that the barn owl cams which were put up by some of our team and volunteers from around the country have been very successful.

WPIT

We were very pleased to see owlets and eggs in some of the boxes and have been keeping an eye on them, during the week. Our bird box and camera team are feeling very proud of themselves for getting the technology and the habitat right for these gorgeous creatures. 

Click to see the Essex owl cam 

Heligan owl cam

Rescuing the Pygmy elephant

The ARC team were very busy yesterday creating pulley systems to rescue the baby Pygmy elephant. They created some really sturdy structures! They worked collaboratively and thought about the materials they had got and how they could use them. Their pulley systems were brilliant and would definitely do the job!