Can Someone Please Help This Seal?

Hello everyone and welcome back - sorry we have missed a couple of days, but Nanny Braund is still very ill in Hospital.

Firstly, great news on the Bat which Rossi rescued from school last week. Janice Whittington of Tarka Ecology who is looking after our bat, with others which she has rescued, has said today that "The little bat is doing well so far. She won't feed herself yet but is eating about 3 - 4 squeezed out mealworms each feed and has goats milk also. She gets m/w juice all over her face but washes herself and is always clean again next time I feed her." This is great news. We will give you further updates, as we receive them.

Secondly, Beth at the Hartland Wildlife Rescue sent me this picture of a seal which has been spotted around Lundy Island, over the last 2-3 years. The RSPCA have been informed, and apparently did not know where Lundy Island was and said they would send a driver out to check it out!!! (We wonder which road they will take!) Someone needs to help this seal to free it from the net. Can anyone help?

Everything is good here at Hill Top. We have some wonderful American visitors staying for a few days, they are lovely people and really enjoying North Devon.

Dreamer is still sitting on three eggs, so we are all getting excited - probably about another two weeks to go!

Speak to you again tomorrow. Bye from all at Hill Top.

Sign of Spring

Welcome back to another good day at Hill Top.

Today everyone has been really busy. Rossi has been cleaning out the Mini Zoo and today we have moved Millie back into the cage with the other three hedgehogs. The lawns have been cut and the driveway strimmed and the weather has been fantastic. The view across the bay is really stunning.

The Bat Rossi rescued from school is doing fine. Beth from the Hartland Wildlife Rescue took the Bat to see a Bat expert called Jan near Torrington. She said the Bat was a girl and that it was a Whiskered Bat and so the Bat was left with Jan, to be with other bats of the same kind. The Whiskered bat has shaggy fur that can be a dark brown, greyish brown or light brown on its back and a dark or light grey on its underside. The nose, ears and wing membranes are all a blackish brown in colour. The Whiskered bat is very similar to the Brandt’s bat in appearance but tends to generally be slightly darker.

Really exciting news about the The Barn Owls. When we found the empty egg shell on the floor we felt really sad as we thought there were no more, but today we had a look and Dreamer is stitting on three eggs. We will keep you updated.

Keep watching our Blog for more stories of life at Hill Top.

Millie's Hoglet Dies

Welcome back everyone. We apologise for not writing our blog for a few days, but Nanny Braund has been really poorly.

Firstly, some really sad news. On Sunday Millie was out and about, but there was no sign of her hoglet. We listened, but there was nothing. We decided that we ought to see if the hoglet was alive, or not, and so we asked Beth for some advice. Beth came over (see picture) and sadly we found Millie's hoglet in the bed, and it appears that she had been squashed/suffocated by Millie, which apparently is quite common. Everyone here at Hill Top was really sad, as we had so wanted Millie's hoglet to live, but it was not to be. At the weekend we will move Millie back in with the other hedgehogs again.

Today has been quite exciting with Rossi bringing home a baby bat from school. The baby bat had been found by one of the teachers in a room and was on its own and helpless. Ross kept the baby bat warm and we took it to Beth at the Harltand Wildlife Rescue. Beth had a nice warm box (see picture) and this evening she confirmed that he has been eating - we will keep you updated on his progress.

We'll be back again tomorrow with news about Bracken and Dreamer, our Barn Owls - thank you for reading.

Inky and Patch

Welcome back to a wet and windy day at Hill Top. It's been really damp and miserable today. Dave's away helping some friends with some painting in their new Pub. Ross and Greg were up early checking on the animals and Ross gave the two guinea pigs, Inky and Patch, their early morning cuddle (see photo) Inky is the black one - guess which one is Patch!!

We have seven baby canaries, four are seven week's old and three just five and a half week's old. They are really pretty and vary in colour - yellow, white, black and brown. At the moment three have little crests on the top of their head (a bit like a mushroom hair cut!) and they are really cute, but some of the others may still get a crest. Some of these will probably be moved into the big aviary with the other five canaries in a week or two.

Work continued on the Woodland Playground again tonight and things are starting to take shape. We're all hoping for some better weather tomorrow.

Update on Millie - today we have heard our hoglet squeaking, so things are looking good.

Further updates tomorrow.

Bracken & Dreamer

Welcome back to Hill Top Tails.

Today (Bank Holiday Monday) has been busy at Hill Top. Caravans have been returning for storage, after their weekend trips out.

Guests leaving and some staying for an extra day, and whilst the weather has been dull and damp, it hasn't stopped work at Walland Farm!

Today work has started on the woodland playground. Dave, Ross & Greg helped their dad Roy finish clearing the site, and carry timber poles down into the small woodland area, in readiness. More to follow on this story as things progress.

Millie and her new hoglet have been quiet all day, but this is a good sign, and we don't expect to see Millie's new offspring for a few weeks, but we will certainly keep you posted.

Today we thought we would introduce you to Bracken and Dreamer, our two Barn Owls.

Last August we received a call from Beth at the Hartland Wildlife Rescue, who desperately needed a home for a baby barn owl. He had been ejected from the nest at only a few days old and Beth had hand reared him. Because he was unable to be returned to the wild Beth needed to find a home for her young Barn Owl.

Well, this is where a great chapter at Hill Top began, as it was all hands on deck and a cage was built within a couple of weeks. Roy, along with Dave, Ross and Greg worked hard to make a home for the young Barn Owl, who I named Bracken.

Bracken lived in a cage in our conservatory whilst the outdoor cage was being built and he was absolutely adorable. As you talked to him he would listen intently and if you turned your head to the right he would do the same and similary if you turned your head to the left, he would follow you. He is absolutely charming and is loved by us all. At the end of last year Beth asked us if Bracken would like a companion as she would like a bigger cage for her own Barn Owl, and so Dreamer came to live with Bracken.

The pictures show Roy and Greg starting on the cage and then Beth, Ross and Greg looking at the finished project, with Bracken in the top right hand corner.

As you can see from the picture Bracken and Dreamer are now best mates and spend all their time together. But the story didn't end there. We'll tell you more tomorrow.

Hoglet at Hill Top

Hi everyone and welcome to Hill Top Holidays. Roy and I (Kaye) and our three sons, Dave 17, Ross 14 and Greg 10 (pictured with a rescued hedgehog), purchased Walland Farm, in North Devon in June, 2007 and we are all working hard together to make Hill Top Holidays a really pleasant and peaceful place to come and stay. We are so lucky to enjoy an absolutely fantastic view around the Bideford Bay and the beautiful countryside around us.

Ross and Greg love animals (probably due to their Uncle Jon at the CFZ encouraging them to help with his own animals over the years) and we have set up our own mini zoo here as a small attraction for our visitors. We work with Beth of the Hartland Wildlife Rescue and last summer Ross and Greg hand fed and reared four rescue hedghogs. Runty, Harvey, Millie and Mrs.Tiggywinkle. These hedgehogs were too low weight to hibernate for the winter and so Ross and Greg looked after them all winter in the zoo. In April when the weather was warmer the hedgehogs moved into their new home, which was in the aviary with the Barn Owls.

Yesterday (Saturday) in the morning, Millie was seen out of the hedgehog's bed, wondering around the aviary, collecting bedding. Ross and Greg kept an eye on her and we realised that she was making a nest. The boys were so excited and rang Beth at the Hartalnd Wildlife Rescue who recommended that Millie be moved into a cage on her own to protect herself and any new babies from the other hedgehogs, who may well eat any baby hoglets.

Ross and Greg moved Millie and all day long she came in and out of her bed collecting straw etc. and making a nest, she was very busy. Last night there was great concern for Millie as she was lying in the doorway of her house and looked tired and helpless, but the boys left Millie to let nature take its course.

This morning Ross and Greg were up and out early, but to their great disappointment there was a dead hoglet in the cage. All day the boys kept listening out to see if they could hear any squeaks, but there has been nothing. Ross rang Beth late this afternoon, as he was so worried that Millie might have died and Beth called round. We opened the lid on the house and there was great joy to see that Millie was alive and bright-eyed, but that there were three other dead hoglets in with Millie. Beth removed these and then much to everyone's surprise we discovered that there was one live hoglet. Millie was carefully left with her baby hoglet and now we will have to wait and see if the hoglet shows it's face to the world in four or five week's time.

Everyone here at Walland Farm is highly delighted and Ross and Greg are already thinking of names!

Over the next couple of weeks we will introduce you to the animals.