Island Cubs First Adventure

As a wildlife cameraman, I spend a lot of my time working on private land of one sort or another.

Sometimes this could be a 2000 acre estate, or just as important, a private garden, this is made possible by the various land owners who put up with my intrusion and most , i am pleased to say remain friends. Two such friends are John and Marion Proctor, of Shanklin. John and Marion live in a fabulous bungalow with a large rear garden , backing on to a large private copse which holds one of the largest badger setts i have seen in over 25 years of working with these animals. The badgers are regular visitors to the garden , and John and Marion keep a regular eye on their charges who often come right up to the patio to receive offerings left out for them. If any thing of note happens a phone call is put through  should this be of interest. Because of this i have managed to obtain some nice studies of both the badgers and foxes

so when I received a phone call on the 23 April this year, from Marion i was hopeful of news of cubs. Well it was news of cubs , Marion told of a young cub wandering around the gardens, in the middle of the day that had lost its bearings, i went round to see. By the time i arrived it had done a disappearing act and was nowhere to be seen, i suggested that food was put down , and i would return later that afternoon. I returned at 5 that afternoon to a sight of John standing up the top of the garden, clad in a stout pair of boots, with a small badger cub in close attendance. The cub had already had some milk, and was about 8 weeks old and still dependent on its parents. "I have had a look round" began John "but there are no obvious clues as to where it came from" . "It nips a bit " he continued as the cub toyed with a stick he had "but it shows no fear of us at all", after a discussion we decided that it would not be a good idea to leave it wandering around for the time being as there were roads nearby. Fortunately John had  recently purchased a new lawn mower, which came in a large box. I picked up the little chap, who took this liberty all in his stride, and placed him in the box  which was transferred to the garage while John and i took another look round for any clues."I took the little chap all round the sett area earlier in case he's just lost and recognizes his home" i looked across " yes it followed me round no problem" he finished. Both john and i searched for anything that could help or answer the question as to why, but found nothing.

Trying to rear an orphan cub in the home is not to be recommended, as they can be very distractive not to mention the time and commitment. No it was best left to some one with the experience needed to see this task through i took the box plus contents home, promising John and Marion an update as soon as i managed to arrange something. On arriving home i rang around and at first arranged for an expert friend in Surrey to take on the task,

but after further consultation Pauline Kidner of "Secret World" was mentioned. I rang Pauline to arrange delivery."If you ring Tony Summers of the RSPCA" she began ,"he is coming over tomorrow with another orphan from the island, he could bring them both together". I thanked pauline and franticly tried to reach mr Summers, eventually I succeeded and was pleased to hear that i was not to late ,he would come straight over. I went out to the conservatory to find our temporary guest finishing of a bowl of weetabix and warm milk, all was well. Tony duly arrived and transferred the cub to a travel box ,the other cub was slightly older and was found in Chale , he informed me, but at least he had company.. John and Marion traveled to "Secret World" in june to see the cubs progress ,"it has a reputation as a bit of a biter" he told me but was doing well and was now in a group of three. He also informed me that the cubs were to make an appearance on "Pet Rescue" on channel 4, fame at last.I am told that all is well with the island cubs, they were restored to the wild on the 31 Aug, on a large private estate in south wales, with their own specially constructed sett. One little chap who will have another chance thanks to John ,Marion, Pauline  and Tony........

Gary d’Aquitaine