12/5/08 - County Press Catches Up

Two weeks after the event the County Press Website publishes its story about the Peace Garden Opening - CLICK HERE

Maybe its in response to Disgusted of St. Lawrence's letter in our Letters/Rants Page - The Ed.

12/5/09 - New Photo Walk Around the Eastern End of the Village.

A photographic record of a walk around the eastern end of St. Lawrence can be seen;  CLICK HERE

8/5/08 - Cyrelle The Red Squirrel - The Full Story

The full story from cyrellesquirrel@hotmail.co.uk she's got her own email address now!! - The Ed.

Whilst out walking the dogs on the Saturday before Easter I found a baby squirrel lying in the road. It was barely moving, was very cold and bleeding from the nose. It looked like it might have blown out of the tree in the high winds and fallen to the ground hitting its head on the tarmac. I wondered momentarily whether I should leave it there and if mummy squirrel would collect it but it wasn’t going anywhere in a hurry and an oncoming car helped me to decide. I tucked it in my jacket and took it to my boyfriend’s house that was close by rather than leaving it to be run over or else being eaten by something. We tried to ring the RSPCA but they were shut until Tuesday, we couldn’t find any contact details for red squirrel groups in the phone book and there was no internet connection at the house. We were on our own.

Once it had warmed a little cradled in my hand we got a shoebox and some warm material, made it a nest and put it somewhere quiet to rest before I returned the dogs home. The next morning we lifted the lid of the box expecting it to be dead from its injuries or else from shock as so often happens with wild animals. It wasn’t but it didn’t really move. It just sat hunched in a little ball swaying and toppling on its side occasionally. We guessed it might be concussed. We looked in the IW County Press for contact details for Helen Butler as there had been three articles detailing her that previous week but couldn’t find any and so we went on the internet to look up her details. We rang the number from the Wight Squirrel Project website but the line was completely dead. (We have since found out that the number was not correct.) Unsure of what to do next we turned our attention back to the squirrel.

As it was only about 10cm long with a non-bushy tail and teeth that didn’t seem to be fully formed we guessed it might still need some milk. For the first few days we fed it using a syringe because it would not feed itself but after a while (and some advice from a lady called Sue whose number my brother found in a magazine) it began to lap up a rather sloppy mixture of milk and rusks much to our delight. It also began to move about a little and as soon as it began to do this we decided that it needed a bigger house and set about converting a wooden wine crate into a small nesting box. We also then had to give ‘it’ a name and quickly settled on ‘Cyril’; yes, we thought it might be a boy as we could see something sticking out of its fur (not that we looked closely) and besides, what else could you call a squirrel?

We continued to take advice from ‘Sue the squirrel lady’ and feed Cyril as she had advised and we cannot thank her enough for her support in the early days when we couldn’t find immediate help elsewhere; she remains an invaluable wealth of information. Indeed during our last call with Sue we found out that ‘Cyril’ was in fact ‘Cyrelle’. (If I may be so bold, according to Sue, little boy squirrels are born with everything clearly visible; it doesn’t only become obvious in maturity so ‘he’ is definitely a ‘she’.)

Very soon it became apparent that we would have to look after Cyrelle for a while until she was eating solid food and so we built her a penthouse complete with climbing branches, a forest floor and a nesting box. According to Sue we should keep hold of her until perhaps mid-June when there is enough food for her to find by herself; apparently we will instinctively know when it is time for her to go.

Seven weeks in and Cyrelle is going from strength to strength. She is now 179grams and has, over the last fortnight, begun to eat a range of seeds beginning with sunflower seeds that she loves. She also enjoys apple but will explore any food that’s around even when it’s not on offer to her! She is most active in the morning and when we go into the room she rattles the bars to come out knowing that she is allowed out to run around for a while. Her favourite games are play-fighting with hands and feet, playing chase or else stealing pens out of hands and taking them up on top of the curtain rail. She also enjoys burying her food in long hair and likes to run round to wait on the chair by the door when she hears someone coming into the room in order to jump on them and say ‘hello’. She is exceptionally tame and has delighted the few people who have been lucky enough to meet her.

This has been a once-in-a-lifetime experience and we are very privileged to have been a part of it. However with this comes responsibility and we are concerned for Cyrelle’s welfare; we don’t want to jeopardise her immediate safety upon release nor her future as a wild squirrel. With only about four weeks to go we are, of course, anxious that Cyrelle will not survive in the wild as she is so very tame at the moment.

We want practical advice from an expert with hands-on experience of rearing squirrels and releasing them back to the wild. Sue is on the mainland. If anyone knows of such an expert on the Isle of Wight please contact cyrellesquirrel@hotmail.co.uk.

Cyrelle the Red Squirrel Gallery

7/5/08 - WightLink Fares to rise Again

Wightlink are to add a fuel surcharge to there already extortionate ferry prices from 00.01 Friday 9th May. IW residents can beat the increase if you hurry, by buying residents books of tickets before the deadline.

Too Late now. - Ed

6/5/08 - Sybil the Red Squirrel

Dave Trevan has sent in the following story and amazing pictures

Sybil was found on a windy day by a friend of mine on a busy main road in Niton when she was a very young squirrel kitten. She was injured, bleeding, cold and close to death. Due to much devoted nursing around the clock, initially using a pipette, Sybil has made a full recovery.

She is utterly delightful and very tame, and lives on a diet of chipmunk food which includes sunflower seeds.

The next stage in her rehabilitation will be to find a suitable wildlife sanctuary that would be prepared to give her a home. In the meantime she is very happy in spacious cage, and often has the run of the house.

Red Squirrels are a protected species and it is illegal to deliberately take them from the wild. Sybil would clearly have died if she had not been rescued and resuscitated.
Her rescuers have taken advice from various professionals and are awaiting further contact.

Please note to anyone who may be tempted to capture a red squirrel:
Red Squirrels are fully protected under the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981

Alan Titchmarsh writes about the Peace Garden in his High Sheriff Diary

www.highsheriff-iow.org.uk/diary.htm

Susan Scoccia Launches Ventnor Town Plan Website - 1/5/08

www.ventnorfuture.org.uk

See County Press for Full Story; www.iwcp.co.uk/News/TOWN_PLANS_LAUNCHED_ON_WEB_1.aspx