MANY small creatures come to us as orphans but we will never be as good as a wild mum and every year we ask people not to pick up young wildlife without thinking.

Rabbits are born underground blind, deaf and without fur, so if very young ones are seen above ground there is a problem. They wean at a young age and are often picked up as tiny bunnies, when really they are independent and able to care for themselves. Hares are born fully furred, eyes and ears open and sit in their forms above ground where they are mistakenly picked up as orphans as mum will leave them for long periods.

Orphan season has already started and following a call from a veterinary surgery in Bristol we have taken in a leveret, (baby hare), which really should have been left alone.

The vet was told the ‘rabbit’s mum' had left it all day in a field so the caller had intervened.

The leveret now has to be hand reared by foster mum Katia and then go through a rehabilitation process so that it can be returned to the wild.

Initially it was a battle to get any food into him at all, but as the days have gone on and ‘Hatter’ has become used to the situation and Katia, he is feeding well and we are also giving him probiotic yoghurt to help promote good bacteria and offer him essential protection that he would naturally have received from mums’ milk.

A little knowledge can go a long way towards understanding these animals.

A hedgehog will leave her young, so they are not necessarily abandoned. If the hoglets seem content and sleeping, leave them alone and return later to check. If the nest has clearly been destroyed they will need to be picked up.

A badger cub out on its own in the day indicates a problem but a group of fox cubs, asleep in a heap together or playing, should be left alone and checked on later. Young lone cubs are a cause for concern and those that are so young that they still have their eyes sealed shut will need help. Deer leave their young in tall grass for long periods and they are often assumed to be orphaned.

It is not always easy to decide when an animal or bird is in need of rescuing, each case has to be considered carefully and a decision made. Unless the animal is obviously in distress, sick or injured, wet, wobbly or lethargic it should be left alone. A frightened wild animal will defend itself and you may get injured if you don’t know what you are doing.

If in doubt trained staff at Oak and Furrows will be happy to help. For more details call 01285 862439 or visit oandf.co.uk.