Bird and animal rescue in west Cornwall volunteer contacts

It may not be the most conventional of celebrations, but Chloe-Mai Burrows, who lives in Falmouth and is on a placement with Head & Head Vets in Helston, wouldn't have it any other way.

With many charities not open to collect wildlife yet, Chloe-Mai is working around the clock to try and save the lives of birds and other animals found injured or separated from parents and unable to be reunited.

Sometimes they have fallen from a roof and other times may have been hit by vehicles or become dehydrated.

Chloe-Mai, who is about to enter her third year in veterinary nursing at Duchy College Rosewarne, with a full-time placement at Head & Head, said: "Wherever we can we try and get them back into the nest - gull mothers particularly are amazing, they're so protective.

Two rescue gull chicks

"But there are houses where they can't be put up, and recently they've been really struggling in the heat.

"When they come off the roof they're so dehydrated and so weak they can't lift their head up. One of them recently couldn't lift its head up at all for two days.

"We are getting inundated. It's amazing, but full on."

She started off with one injured bird, after volunteering to take it home from work and feed it through the night.

As of today she is currently looking after three hoglets (baby hedgehogs) that need feeding every two to four hours - including through the night - as well as a sparrow and 11 seagulls of varying sizes, including three baby ones.

This week she also admitted a jackdaw, a further adult seagull and a thrush that sadly didn’t make it.

A freezing baby seagull that pulled through after 45 minutes on a heat pad

Since starting to rescue wildlife she has also taken in pigeons, doves and sparrows.

She admits that her partner, who is a dog-lover and "doesn't really like birds", has slowly had to accept his new housemates.

"We've been together a few years now and he's learnt that birds are just happening," laughed Chloe-Mai. "He tolerates them."

She added: "I try not to get attached to them, especially when they're young like the hogs and tiny chicks, but naming them helps to work out who is who, especially when you've got so many.

Bubble and Squeak, two-day-old collared dove babies that went on to be released last month

"Some of them are named after the people that bring them to me, or the other half names them."

Chloe-Mai is a member of the West Cornwall Wildlife Rescue and Rehab Volunteers group on Facebook.

Members are all trained veterinary nurses and based all over the west of Cornwall, with anyone seeing an injured bird or animal on a road or in the the street encouraged to get in touch via the Facebook page so that the nearest available person can go out to help.

As it has yet to register as an official charity, the group has set up an online fundraising page for donations to support their work, at www.gofundme.com/f/cornwall-wildlife-veterinary-care, to help cover food, housing, medication and surgical costs.

Anyone wishing to support Chloe-Mai in her work can also visit her Amazon wishlist, at www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/A6014B8DP4FP, where she has group together various items and equipment she uses regularly in the care of the creatures she rescues.

Chloe-Mai is a student veterinary nurse at Head & Head in Helston

It includes everything from feeding bowls and tweezers to washing capsules as she is currently washing towels and blankets every other day.

She advised anyone who found a creature in distress to contact the Facebook page straight away and wait for a volunteer to arrive, rather than attempt to take it home, but said that putting it in a small box and covering it with a blanket to try and calm it "does wonders."