KILDARE ANIMAL FOUNDATION: The badger and the heron
Re-released into the wild
The heron and the badger are two different species with something in common.
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No, this is no love story or a tale of one saving the other — but both of these animals were found in the same area of a Kildare village — injured — a couple of weeks apart.
It was early on a Sunday morning when the call came in about a badger found lying by a path way, not moving and clearly injured.
He had been a road traffic victim the night previous.
The callers managed to get him into a carrier and bring him to my house.
There I was able to give emergency care with fluids and pain relief, before getting him to the shelter.
The large male was concussed and not fit to travel to a vet. The next day he was much more stable and was brought to Botanic Vets who x-rayed him.
There they found he had a fractured pelvis and some damage to his tongue and jaw, all which would be fixable with time and pain management.
The following week we received a call late on Friday evening about a heron, who was found injured on the road, not far from where the badger was found.
A member of our wildlife response team went on the call and was able to bring the heron to the new emergency vets based at Grey Abbey in Kildare town. It’s a wonderful new veterinary service available when all other vets are shut.
They treated the large bird overnight and one of our volunteers collected and brought him to the shelter the next day.
After a couple of days intense care, he turned a corner and started to thrive.
After weeks of care and rehabilitation the badger was ready for the off.
We brought him late at night to a site very near where he was found. We settled the carrier and opened the door.
After a few minutes of sniffing the air and taking it all in, he darted off into the darkness. It was over in seconds, but it was a lovely feeling.
Freedom for heron
The heron was then ready to go. We were able to bring him back on a lovely sunny evening and release him on the water edge.
He didn’t hesitate and flew straight off out of the carrier and glided to the other side of the bank.
Minutes later he took to the sky once more and flew down the canal.
We were able to get a lovely video of it and will post in on our Facebook page this week.
Two great outcomes for this beautiful native species. If you find an injured animal or bird, never just leave it for someone else to look for help.
Just pick up the phone and give us a call at the number below.