Since setting up a family-run animal rescue centre at their home in Thirsk, Krista Langley and daughter Lauren have treated more than 4,000 casualties. Ruth Addicott finds out how they do it.

FOR Krista Langley and her daughter, Lauren, one of the most rewarding parts about running a rescue centre is when they are able to release an animal back into the wild. “We have had cases where we’ve had tawny owls here two or three weeks and we’ve taken them back and their partner is still waiting,” says Krista. “It’s nice when that happens.”

Krista and Lauren set up The Wildlife Haven, a non-profit organisation, from their home in Thirsk in 2008. Since then, they have cared for more than 4,000 injured, sick and orphaned wild animals across the North-East.

Relying solely on donations, they are now in the process of applying to become a registered charity.

They currently have 40 casualties – at their busiest they had 80 – including rabbits, fox cubs, hedgehogs, bats, pigeons, a parrot, squirrels, doves, owls and a leveret. “We started off very small with half a dozen patients, now we see about 800 casualties a year – last year we topped 1,000,” says Krista. Among the recent rescues were three baby rabbits, saved by bighearted construction workers who dug up their warren while working on the A1.

Krista, who has a nursing background, says the majority of casualties are caused by people and often involve strimmers, snaring, poisoning or shooting. Spring is particularly busy with hedgehogs coming out of hibernation and people digging in their gardens and not looking to see if there is anything hiding.

“We’ve had birds stuck in feeders, a hedgehog wedged under a car seat and we had a bird stuck in a washing machine once,” says Krista. “We had to get an engineer out because it was trapped in the pipe. Someone else rang up and said they found a frog in their lettuce – we told them to relocate it to the nearest pond. Someone else had bees nesting in a radio cassette recorder.”

The centre operates 24/7 and if they are not out on a rescue, they are usually up at night doing feeds. Krista does early morning and Lauren will often be up until three, four or sometimes five in the morning. In spring and summer, they get about 100 calls a week, many of which are due to cats.

The Northern Echo:
A young tawny owl

“We plead with people, if possible, to keep their cats in at night,” says Krista. “We see an awful lot of birds, rabbits and bats attacked by cats. We’ve had adult ducks killed by cats, which always amazes me, and we’ve ended up with all the ducklings.”

Krista and Lauren have also had their fair share of injuries and have been bitten, scratched and pecked more times than they can remember. In one encounter with a parrot, Lauren ended up with a fractured finger.

“The poor bird was in a terrible state,” says Krista. “It’s still here. She’s called Persephone and is part of the family now.”

The Northern Echo:
A baby squirrel is fed with a pipette

All the animals (except a nest of 19 mice) have names. Some are inspired by classical composers such as Beethoven, others are simply called “Steve”. “We often ask the person who has brought in the casualty if they’ve named them,” says Krista.

They have all sorts of calls from road traffic accidents to animals getting stuck up chimneys.

One lady had a bird phobia and phoned the police because a bird had got into her flat and she was locked in. She was in one room, the bird was in the other and she was too terrified to move. Another caller rang up and said there was a crow destroying his car and pecking at the windscreen wipers and he didn’t know how to stop it. “We suggested covering it with some tarpaulin,” says Krista.

They also receive a lot of phone calls from abroad from France, Spain, Eastern Europe and even as far as the United Arab Emirates, mainly about birds which have been injured or orphaned.

The Northern Echo:
Krista with an injured hedgehog

Having built up a reputation, The Wildlife Haven often gets referrals from vets and works alongside charities such as the RSPCA. Krista and Lauren also visit schools to teach children more about wildlife.

According to Krista, the most difficult rescues are when people are verbally abusive and try to intervene. “A lot of people believe wildlife should be left alone, even if it is suffering. We don’t agree with that and that makes a rescue very difficult,” she says.

“We are not a sanctuary, we are basically a little hospital and we try to get animals out as quickly as possible. We’ve had a few cases of things like fox cubs being picked up. Often what happens is the mum will move them from one den to another and she’ll be carrying them one at a time and someone may spot a cub on its own when she would be coming back for it.” When it is possible, they’ll take the cub back to where it was found and remain at a safe distance while it is reunited with its mother.

The Northern Echo:
A baby blackbird

One thing that never ceases to surprise Krista is how some animals seem to turn up on the doorstep of their own accord – treating it like their local A&E. “It is quite bizarre. We have had birds and hedgehogs sitting in the porch, as though they have just brought themselves here,” she says. “It’s happened half a dozen times.”

  • To contact The Wildlife Haven, call 01845-526567 or 07772-871833.