Kittens' close shave with chainsaw has a happy ending (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)
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Kittens' close shave with chainsaw has a happy ending
12:00pm Friday 12th October 2012 in News
THREE tiny kittens had a close shave with a chainsaw at a wildlife reserve near Oaksey.
Volunteer workers were trimming back a patch of crack willow trees at Wiltshire Wildlife Trust’s Lower Moor Farm when they discovered the frightened little mites shivering under a branch that had just been cut down.
The men, who were taking a day out from their normal day jobs with Southern Electric Power Distribution, were clearing debris.
Project Manager, John Wagner, said: “When the chainsaws stopped we could hear something crying under the limb.
“We couldn’t believe it. Three tiny kittens all covered in sawdust huddled together in a small hollow in the ground under the limb inches from where we last cut. Thankfully, they were unharmed.”
The kittens were already being eyed up by circling sparrowhawks as a potential lunch so they were safely gathered up, their mother was caught and they were taken to Cat Rescue in Chippenham.
Ellie Jones, Braydon Forest project manager for the trust, said “To find cats on a nature reserve raises serious concerns for us. They can damage the local wildlife. So, when John called me to say they had found these kittens, we moved quickly.”
She added: “ Leaving them to fend for themselves was out of the question. They would probably have died, but had they survived, we could have ended up with a population of wild cats on the reserve. That’s bad for the cats and bad for our wildlife.”
New homes are being sought for the felines, who are currently being cared for in a foster home.
John and his fellow Southern Electric workers Dan Francis, Tom Robinson and Sean Croucher, were taking part in the company’s Community at Heart programme, which encourages staff to take a day off to volunteer for local charities.
The tree cutters have used their specialist skills and equipment to carry out some of the more difficult tasks.
