(whimsical music)
- [Sharon] Say you've been caring for an animal
and you actually do have to do that little bit of syringe
feeding, and then the next day you go in there to syringe
feed it, and it wants to eat you,
you know you've done a good job.
(telephone ringing)
- Good afternoon, Tiggywinkles, Alyssa speaking,
how can I help?
(playful music)
- Welcome to Tiggywinkles,
the world's busiest wildlife hospital.
- [Narrator] Meet Sharon Jacobs.
She's a senior nurse here at Tiggywinkles.
This adorable wildlife hospital is named after a character
from the Beatrix Potter children's book,
Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle.
But this isn't a place you take your sick dog
like Florence the British Bulldog.
Right, Flo? (barking)
This is for all wild animals found injured.
X-rays taken.
- [Sharon] We deal with all British wildlife
as in foxes, badgers, deer, wood mice.
- [Narrator] They treat rabbits, bats, big birds,
small birds, and very, very cute hedgehogs.
Oh, just look at him swimming.
They get around 10,000 animals through the door each year
with a wide range of sicknesses and injuries.
- OK, this guy came into us about two weeks ago, and
she fractured her tibia,
so we've actually put Plaster of Paris on,
which is a cast.
- [Narrator] The wildlife hospital is just like a human one.
Luckily for the animals, there isn't a waiting room.
- Any animal that comes through the door
the first thing is they do they go for a triage.
So, and literally, they are medically assessed there;
see if there's any injuries; see if they need a drip;
see if they need any antibiotics,
painkillers and stuff like that.
Within 24 hours they normally get reassessed by the vet
and any sort of like medical treatment or wounds
or injuries or x-rays when you think is normally done.
Then, once the animal is fully fit,
as in medically inside we want it to go outside.
So if it's a bird for argument's sake
it would go into an aviary.
If it was a deer it would go down our paddocks
and again once we're happy with them
then the aim is to get everything back to the wild.
We don't keep anything 'cause it looks cute and fluffy.
It is quite nice
when it comes to actually releasing the animal
and now and again some of the deer will actually
bolt off and then turn around and stare at you goin',
what's goin' on here?
So it's quite nice.
I think the aim of Tiggywinkles
is obviously to save the animal's life
but also to educate people about how to treat them,
how to get the animal back to the wild.
If you do see an animal that's injured
do take it to a wildlife hospital.
- [Narrator] So it can get better
and that way this little fella
could rest up with his cast.
(playful music)
(electronic chiming)