Oxfordshire Wildlife Rescue

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Oxfordshire Wildlife Rescue

Oxfordshire Wildlife Rescue is a registered charity that's dedicated to rescue, care and rehabilitation of sick, injured, and orphaned British wildlife.

Charity no. 1194050

15/06/2026

It's Baby Hedgehog season at OWR! Sadly these beautiful delicate creatures needed a helping hand, so they were handed into us for ongoing care and later rehabilitation for eventual release back to the wild🥰

During the summer, mother hedgehogs often make nests in our gardens to care for their litters (hoglets). They look for warm, quiet, and waterproof places such as log piles, compost heaps, or spots under sheds, decking, and especially... tarpaulins! If you happen to find a nest, please refrain from gardening in that area and step back. Disturbing a mother hedgehog can lead her to abandon, harm, or even kill her young if they are very small. If you have any doubts or concerns about a hedgehog nest, don't hesitate to reach out to our team.

Here are some helpful tips for supporting hedgehogs!

Provide Food and Water: Set out shallow bowls of fresh water, and if you want to help feed them, offer some high-quality wet or dry cat/dog food in your garden (just make sure to place it well away from the nest site to avoid alarming the mother hedgehog).

Please avoid leaving out milk, bread, or mealworms.

Daytime Sightings: Although hedgehogs are nocturnal, a nursing mother might be spotted foraging at dusk, dawn, or briefly during the day. However, if you see a lethargic, wobbly hedgehog or one surrounded by flies during peak daylight hours, it indicates an emergency, and you should contact a wildlife rescue immediately.

Create Hedgehog Highways: Help mother hedgehogs access your garden safely by making a small gap or hole (approximately 13 cm × 13 cm) at the bottom of your fences.

Thank you to everyone who has recently sent us in puppy milk replacer from our Amazon Wishlist! These are currently helping us keep these tiny little patients fed :) 😍

11/06/2026

From all of us here at OWR, we would like to say a 💖 !!!!! HUGE GREAT BIG THANK!!!! YOU 💖 to everyone for their generosity and the amazing support we have received recently from our Amazon Wishlist !!!!

In just May alone, we admitted over 600 new patients to our wildlife rescue center!!🤯 A large percentage of these new arrivals were young birds who genuinely needed our care and attention. Thanks to you, we can continue to give them the best care and treatment in order to get them better and later released back to the wild again !!

THANK YOU !! Please do keep the goodies coming.. we currently have many mouths/beaks to feed, cleaned and treated here at OWR :)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/2BM129CS8GEZ9?ref_=wl_share

Best wishes & THANK YOU SO MUCH!! 💖

Team OWR :)

10/06/2026

Hi all! We are currently looking for some volunteers who would like to help the charity with some admin work :) Whilst appreciate that not everyone can donate their time to come and help here at the center, we are now able to offer this position which can be carried out remotely away from the rescue center.

The tasks we are currently needing help with include :

Data entry/ organising
Help with our newsletter
Assisting with Correspondence
Gift Aid
Assisting with grants/ fundraising

Ideally, we are looking for volunteers who are comfortable and have experience working with microsoft office.

If this sounds like something you can help us with, please email Luke at [email protected]

09/06/2026

Our baby bird nursery is currently VERY busy !! We have everything from garden birds, tawny & barn owlets, jackdaws, magpies, crows and more!! They all need constant feeding and they are certainly keeping our team on their toes here at the moment too! We are in desperate need of wax worms and other food items from our Amazon wishlist, so if anyone can help us, please consider buying a few food or other items from our Amazon wishlist through the link below ❤️

We would be extremely grateful for your support!! 😍

https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/2BM129CS8GEZ9?ref_=wl_share

08/06/2026

Baby Deer (Fawns) Advice 🦌

Every year, baby deer are picked up and brought into us under the general belief that they are orphaned or in trouble. Whilst this is almost always done out of sheer kindness, the reality is that they are very rarely orphaned at all and should be left well alone and monitored from a safe distance.

Nursing mothers will often leave their young hidden away in the grass for extended periods of time. Newborn fawns have little to no scent, making them practically invisible to predators. Adult deer, however, have a strong scent and are more visible. By staying away, the mother avoids drawing unwanted attention to her baby.

She is never too far away though and will be keeping an eye on the area her fawn is laid up and will return in order to feed her young when it's safe to do so.

If you find a fawn, kid or calf please...

1. Move away immediately
2. Do not be tempted to touch the deer or pick it up – your scent may stop the mother returning to feed her baby
3. If you have a dog, please keep it away from the deer and on a lead under full control

WHAT HAPPENS IF A FAWN IS PICKED UP, TOUCHED OR MOVED?

If humans, dogs or any other animal touches or picks up a fawn,their scent rubs off on them. This foreign scent can alarm the mother and prevent her from returning to feed her offspring.

WHEN IS INTERVENTION REQUIRED?

✅If the fawn is covered in flies and fly eggs
✅Obviously injured (blood and injuries clearly visible)
✅If your dog has picked up the fawn

IF THE FAWN NEEDS RESCUING, WHAT IS ITS CHANCES OF BEING RELEASED BACK TO THE WILD?

Whilst we here at OWR have a good success rate with young deer, we always try all other available avenues before taking on the task of hand rearing them. If there is any remote chance of reuniting them back with their mothers, we will try to do so.
If they do require hand rearing, then of course we shall do absolutely everything we can for them.

When hand rearing fawns, we keep to a strict code of conduct:

1. They are kept with and reared with other baby deer. (this is extremely important!!)
2. They are not cuddled, played with or treated like domestic pets.
3. The sole aim for all of our baby deer is for them to be returned back to the wild as wild deer.

The chances that a fawn is orphaned is extremely slim, and in the event that you should find or are concerned for a fawns safety or welfare, please do not hesitate to contact us. We always advise to contact us before intervening 💖

06/06/2026

Its National Volunteer Week !

This message is dedicated to all our incredible and committed volunteers at OWR! Without them, we wouldn't be able to assist the thousands of sick and injured wildlife that arrive at our facility each year. Just in May of this year, we helped over 600 wildlife casualties. An incredible and amazing effort, which simply wouldn't be possible without our volunteers.

The charity relies heavily on volunteers to conduct its operations, and a huge thank you goes out to them :) for their amazing care, support, and dedication to wildlife in its time of need.

It's also a time for reflection, as over the years, OWR has sadly lost some of our wonderful volunteers, may they rest in peace, and may they be remembered for their incredible efforts and dedication towards OWR and its mission to help our local wildlife.

Thank you so much team, you are so appreciated and OWR would simply be nothing with you and your kind support :)

21/05/2026

Hi all ! We are currently looking for volunteers who would be interested in coming to help with our very busy baby bird nursery 😍 Its a rewarding position and can be strangely satisfying experience feeding baby birds😂

This is a brand new volunteer position, which is based at our onsite wildlife rescue centre in Blewbury, Oxfordshire. We are looking for a range of shifts to be covered, including:

The (early bird shift) 7am -9am
Morning 9-1pm
Afternoon 1pm- 6pm
Evening shift which is 6pm - 10pm.

Currently, we have a wide range of species, ranging from garden birds such as blackbirds, thrushes, blue t**s and robins.. through to the predatory birds such as Tawny Owlets.. all of which need to be weighed, cleaned, fed and monitored in order to deliver the best levels of care and attention :)

This position is open to those who are aged 18 or over only.
No previous experience is required, as we will offer all the training and support.

If this is something you can help us out with or would like to learn more, please visit our website through the link below:
https://www.oxfordshirewildliferescue.co.uk/volunteering

18/05/2026

On behalf of us all here at OWR, we would like to say a HUGE big THANK YOU to Cllr Andrew Coles for raising over £2000 for OWR with his fundraising efforts throughout 2025. We were one of his chosen charities during his time as the head of chair for west oxfordshire district council :)

Thank you Andrew ! :) this money will help so many patients who need or services in their hour of need :)

12/05/2026

Here at OWR, our wildlife rescue centre is incredibly busy! We currently have a wide range of wild animals who are receiving round-the-clock care and attention including fox & badger cubs, nestling birds, tawny owls, hedgehogs and more.

As a charity, we heavily depend on the support of our fantastic team of dedicated volunteers, who donate their time to help British wildlife in theri hour of need.

We are currently looking to expand our volunteer army, so that we can continue to be there for wildlife and help deliver the care and aid towards them.

If you are 18 years or older, hold a passion towards wildlife and wish to be a part of this amazing team of like-minded animal heroes, please consider sending in a volunteer application via our website: https://www.oxfordshirewildliferescue.co.uk/volunteering

we look forward to meeting you and having join OWR!

Address

Oxfordshire
OX33 1

Telephone

07549322464

Website

http://www.oxfordshirewildliferescue.com/

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