Animal Rescue with Marion Garnett
Dedicated animal expert Marion Garnett, founder of the Ealing Animal Charities Fair, continues her column
AFTER visiting the Costons Lane Nature Reserve, I shall never think of Greenford in the same way again.
I’ve just done two visits in two days to wildlife areas in different places. Both places were filled with flowers and buzzing with wildlife. But they were two very different occasions.
The first occasion was the Open Day at Costons Lane Nature Reserve and Education Hub. It was a revelation. Within a stone’s throw of Greenford Broadway there was a red kite feeding station, a fox den, a beehive and a sanctuary for amphibians such as frogs, toads and newts. During the Open Day, we were invited to place a rock in the bug hotel, watch the Harvest Mice and attend the opening of a wonderful bird hide.
This nature reserve has been formed, by volunteers in the Ealing Wildlife Group, from an old disused allotment site. Rubble has been cleared, flowers have been planted and features which help wildlife have been installed such as bird feeders, bird houses, bat boxes and bug and hedgehog homes.
Guided by their ethos of community participation, conservation and collaboration, the group is brimming with creative ideas for the site and also for other wildlife in the area such as swifts and beavers (yes, you heard right, beavers). If you would like to know more, see details at ealingwildlifegroup.com.
The second visit to a wildlife area was a very different occasion. I’d been invited to be present at the scattering of the ashes for a beloved pet dog. After a happy life, the dog had passed away peacefully at home with his family present.
Subsequently, those who knew him well were invited to be present at the scattering of his ashes in a woodland dell currently filled with bluebells. As he was carried across the fields that he had known so well to his favourite part of the walk, the woodland dell, we remembered the happy times we’d enjoyed with him.
The death of a much-loved pet is often a difficult time and we all have to deal with it in our own way and do what feels right and comforting at the time. But it’s useful to know that, if needed, help is available.
Organised by the Blue Cross, the Pet Bereavement Support Service provides support from someone who knows, from personal experience, how distressing the loss of a pet can be.
The support line is open daily from 8.30am to 8.30pm – call 0800 096 6606. More details are available from bluecross.org.uk.