Badger rescued at Lewes

East Sussex Wildlife Rescue & Ambulance Service (WRAS) received an emergency call to an injured badger on the disused railway line just north of Lewes Tescos.

Rescuer Trevor Weeks and Chris Riddington from WRAS jumped in their ambulances and were on site within 20 minutes.

“The initial report was from a lady walking her dog and she spotted the badger very lethargic curled up at the bottom of the railway cutting between the two brick bridges off Old Malling Way in Lewes” said Trevor Weeks MBE

“On site the access was not easy and we had to climb down a steep embankment and could not park the ambulance very close. I soon found the badger near one of the bridges. I couldn’t get a cage down the embankment safely at this point so covered the badger with my jacket and kept it safe, whilst Trevor found a better location to park up and gain access with a cage. The badger was quite lethargic so I was able to pick him up without him struggling – I wouldn’t recommend people do this as badger can cause serious injury but luckily we are trained how to assess and handle them safely” explained rescuer Chris Riddington.

Trevor met Chris at the end of the railway line where the badger was placed into a cage and taken to the nearby ambulance and driven to WRAS’s Casualty Care Centre at Whitesmith where vet Mike sedated the badger to examine it properly.

“Despite being a bit disorientated and underweight the badger was in fairly good condition and has now been bedded down. There is a possibility the badger may have had a knock with a vehicle on Old Malling Way, but this is unclear. We hope his condition will improve and that we can take him back once fully recovered” said Trevor.

As usual East Sussex WRAS will be on call all over Christmas and New Year with volunteers at the rescue centre feeding and cleaning the casualties and a skeleton medication and rescue team for dealing with emergencies too.

The Rescuer centre is running currently at about 90% capacity so volunteers will have a very busy Festive Season looking after the casualties.

Anyone wanting to make a donation to help support the work of WRAS can find out more at www.wildlifeambulance.org.