RSPCA: craziest animal rescues of 2022 - including a slithering surprise in Merseyside

RSPCA have revealed their wackiest animal rescues of 2022.

Last year, the charity’s officers were called to thousands of incidents, including many in which birds, wildlife, pets and farm animals have found themselves in a sticky situation.

In the North of England, the crazy rescues include a hedgehog stuck in a gate, a sheep stuck in a feeding station and a even a trapped snake in Merseyside.

Wacky rescues

• In North Yorkshire, a badger got stuck in a skip and needed help to get back to the wild. RSPCA rescuer Laura Barber was called to Cawood on April 22 after the badger was found in a skip at a commercial site. Laura said: Thankfully she was able to easily reach him with her special reach-and-rescue pole, pull him out and release him in a meadow nearby.

• A woman had a fright after finding a corn snake in the drainpipe of her Merseyside home. Merseyside Police were called to the home in Birkenhead on July 2 before RSPCA rescuer Anthony Joynes was called to assist. The brightly-coloured snake was taken in by a local exotics rescue centre for care; it’s believed he may have been abandoned or escaped from his home.

Anthony said: “The lady who found the snake didn’t know whether he was venomous so she rang the police, who contacted me. He was quite a size and that must have been a shock for the woman who was pottering around in her garden when she noticed something under the drainpipe!” The snake was found to have suffered a fractured rib so it’s believed he may have been run over by a car or motorbike.

• RSPCA officers came to the rescue of a finch who moved into a Next store in Tyne & Wear, and took up residency among the Christmas displays. Rescuers Rachael Hurst and Lucy Green were called after the bird flew in through an open window on November 13 and, initially, became trapped in a gap between the store’s glass frontage and an internal wall, straddling across several floors, before perching on top of a Christmas tree. Fortunately, she was rescued on November 15 unharmed, and released outside.

• A hedgehog needed a helping hand after getting wedged between the bars of a metal gate. RSPCA rescuer inspector, Jack Taylor was called to Bramley in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, on June 26.

He said: “The podgy little porker had tried to push through the metal bars of a garden gate and got himself well and truly stuck! Our call-taker who logged the report from the member of the public who found the little hedgehog aptly named him ‘Wedge-hog’ when they tasked me the job!” Jack managed to carefully push him backwards out of the railings and wasn’t injured so scurried back into the bushes.

• An embarassed sheep needed a helping hand after getting stuck between the bars of a metal field feeding station. Rescuer Helen Chapman was called to a field in Wythenshawe, Greater Manchester, on June 27 after the stricken sheep was spotted by a walker. Helen was able to unscrew a mechanism and widen the gaps to free her and she ran back to the flock.