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Episode 1 - Volunteering, changing laws and wildlife walks with Geoff Edmond
57 Plays10 months ago
Welcome to Walk on the Wild Side, an RSPCA podcast. We’ll meet people from this 200-year-old animal welfare charity, and learn about what they do. We’ll discover more about the amazing wildlife all around us, and how we can help it thrive, and be inspired to get outdoors and into nature.
In this episode, Holly Cushen goes for a walk in the fields around RSPCA Newbrook Farm with Lead Wildlife Officer Geoff Edmond. Wildlife is all around us – we don’t own it but we have to look after it, and we can help by creating wildlife corridors, putting out food, being careful with our litter and volunteering as an RSPCA Wildlife Friend. In return, walking in nature can make us happy – and children especially love minibeasts! Holly and Geoff also talk about the RSPCA’s long history of collaboration: with governments to change and create laws; other organisations to improve animal welfare day to day; and the public – for instance after the Torrey Canyon oil spill in 1967 when the RSPCA and local communities came together to help birds.
Host: Holly Cushen
Writers: Holly Cushen and Morwenna Kearns
Producer: Morwenna Kearns
Audio producer: Chris Attaway
Wildlife advisor: Rebecca Machin
Executive producer: Sarah Millerick
Recorded on location at RSPCA Newbrook Farm in Birmingham
Wildlife advice: rspca.org.uk/adviceandwelfare/wildlife
Work for the RSPCA: jobs.rspca.org.uk/jobs/home
Volunteer for animals: rspca.org.uk/getinvolved/volunteer
More information on how to get involved: rspca.org.uk/getinvolved/donate/audio
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Transcript
Introduction to Walk on the Wild Side Podcast
00:00:02
Speaker
Welcome to the Walk on the Wild Side and RSPCA podcast. I'm Holly Cushion, an outreach officer at the ah RSPCA. Over this series, we'll meet some other people from this 200-year-old animal welfare charity and learn more about what they do. We'll discover more about the amazing wildlife all around us, how we can help it thrive and be inspired to get outdoors and into nature.
Focus on Wildlife with Jeff Edmunds
00:00:30
Speaker
On this episode, we're going for a walk with Jeff Edmund to talk about all things wildlife, from how the ah RSPCA has helped to change laws, to how we work with other organisations, and how to walk yourself happy.
00:00:54
Speaker
So today we're here at ah RSPCA Newbrook Farm in Birmingham, speaking to Jeff Edmonds, leaved wildlife officer here at the RSPCA. It's really nice to meet you, Jeff. Can you tell us a little bit about your job and your role here in the RSPCA?
Role of a Lead Wildlife Officer
00:01:07
Speaker
Hi Holly and good to be here at Newbrook today. Yes, I'm the lead wildlife officer for the RSPCA and I'm responsible really for being the link between the RSPCA inspector and the many in internal departments within the RSPCA but also externally as well working with many partners, other NGOs, people like the police, people like other partners, external partners like Natural England. Working together so I'm responsible for dealing with questions on wildlife rehabilitation, dealing with questions on wildlife legislation I'm not just a wildlife go-to person really, anything and everything comes to me and I try and resolve it. I've got a very interesting job, a job that I really enjoy. It's all about making a difference, working together, working in partnership and engaging with everybody, like one of the reasons I'm here today. Day to day, what does your job look like?
00:01:51
Speaker
Day-to-day is long hours, long days, checking emails, many days of online meetings, giving advice, really supporting people to just get that greater understanding about wildlife and what the RSPCA does. And then sometimes it's media requests, often I'm on the road attending conferences, do a lot of training, do quite a bit of police training at the moment, getting involved with many aspects of it really. So no days are the same, no two days are the same, every day is different and that's part of the The interesting part of the job is that what's going to be thrown at me today kind of resolve it and kind of make it a better world for wildlife and the people we work with because sometimes if somebody somebody comes to you with a problem it's actually because they don't know so just being able to offer that advice and that support is really rewarding.
00:02:37
Speaker
Sounds it, it really does. So being a lead wildlife officer, obviously you've got quite a lot of experience with wildlife in various areas. So what type of wildlife do you think people are likely to see in England, Wales, in various different sort of coastal areas or urban areas? It really differs, I suppose. Yeah, I think it's a really interesting question. I think wildlife's all around us. We have to appreciate that it's everywhere. And to a lot of people, wildlife could be the hedgehogs that come into the garden all evening. Could be the birds that have been in the garden.
00:03:06
Speaker
It could be a walk out onto the beach to see the many seabirds, it could be walked if you're living near nature reserve to go look at the breeding cliffs and see wonderful birds like puffins and other seabirds, but equally it could be foxes, it could be badgers, it could be deer and it often can be just going out for walk and when you go out for walk you will see so much wildlife.
00:03:25
Speaker
But you've really got to look and you've got to listen. And people will say to me, I went up for walk and I saw nothing. Yeah, you did. You missed it. You've got to look and you've got to listen. And you know what? Particularly young children are fascinated by mini-beasts, so much in our hedgerows, so many insects. And they're part of the living environment and the ecosystem and biodiversity of wherever you live. So actually the thing with wildlife is it's all around us. We just appreciate it and we've got to look after it and we've got to care for it and we've got to safeguard it.
00:03:55
Speaker
With you saying about looking after wildlife, what type of things do do you mean? What type of things can we be doing to help look after
Helping Wildlife and Environmental Practices
00:04:01
Speaker
our wildlife? do You know, this is so exciting to be able to share this with you because we've just got to think about what we've done. The first thing we've got to do is realise where we live. We're surrounded by wildlife. The wildlife we've got is fantastic and that could be the birds in your garden. It could be the foxes, the deer, the rabbits, the herds when you go out for a walk, but it could equally be the mini-beasts, the ladybirds, the caterpillars, the moths, the butterflies, that particularly children like to explore when they're out and about, getting really down to earth with nature and understanding it.
00:04:31
Speaker
And once we understand what we've got and we have to look after it, we need to safeguard it. Conservation is linked with biodiversity, which links to safeguarding. We've got to look after it. The wildlife we've got, we don't own, but we are responsible for it. And once we get into that, what can we do? So one of the things you can do is join the RSPCA as a wildlife friend. You can sign up online.
00:04:51
Speaker
It's a volunteering position where we'll give you information, not too much, but information that you can learn from and ideas and we'll put seminars online, come and talk to us, come and chat with us and really join the RSPCA family to be part of that wildlife community to really care about what we've got because there are annual welfare links into wildlife conservation very much so So what can you do? For example, if you're feeding the birds in your garden, you must keep the containers clean, you're feeding them in. You must put clean water out every day because if not, then you're increasing that risk of transfer of disease to other species. You've got to look after it the hours. They're visiting your garden every day. If you've got hedgehogs, they need to be able to move from garden to garden. and You know, people ask me questions about urban areas.
00:05:36
Speaker
and it's all about wildlife corridors. Wildlife needs a path, it needs to walk from one area to another. So if you've got one area and there is no link to another area, that restricts the movement of animals. So we have to think about, almost like trains running from one place to another, or aircraft moving from another, we have to think about wildlife needs corridors. And leave it wild, leave a wild corner of your garden. You will be absolutely amazed at the wildlife that you get and it's so fascinating but then know that you're doing that little bit, you're doing your bit to help. Everybody else is and look upon it that wherever you live, be it an urban area, community area, we live in a rural area, in a flat, you live wherever you live. If you've got any area at all, no matter how small, that's a mini nature reserve and once you start thinking about it being a mini nature reserve
00:06:21
Speaker
then you can think I'm really making a difference. And that's where Wildlife Friends kicks in. It's a really good, exciting opportunity, to how it's PCO developed. And you'll hear me talking to you as well on these lines at the seminars and talks we give. So you'll ah get to meet me online and you'll get information from me and my colleagues as well.
00:06:39
Speaker
signed me up straight away. he Sold it. Missed definitely.
Threats to Wildlife and How to Mitigate Them
00:06:44
Speaker
So we've spoken a little bit about you know what we can do to help wildlife but why is wildlife in danger? Like what sort of threats are we are we looking at here?
00:06:53
Speaker
I think the first threat is we just need to pause till our holy time to go on the internet and sign up as a wildlife friend because we've now got that witnessed on this podcast. But actually that's a really interesting question. If you think about it everything's under threat. Absolutely everything is but we've got to understand the animals and one of the things that we often forget is that think about what happens at night, think about when you go to bed.
00:07:16
Speaker
Foxes come out, the badgers come out, the hedgehogs come out, that's the start of their working day. Deer are very active at dawn and dusk, so what we sometimes see is we see sadly in the inspector a fun line.
00:07:28
Speaker
We have to go and rescue things like foxes, things like owls that have got caught up in the sports netting that's been left out, hasn't been rolled up and put away. And often we'll get there and the animals can be in a really seriously injured because they could have if they were caught at one o'clock in the morning, they could have been thrashing around until the early hours of the morning when we were awake and seeing these things. So we're putting animals at home, so we really need to think about hazards like that we're creating. And when we talk about hazards,
00:07:55
Speaker
We have to understand for example that litter is a hazard. Litter is a real problem. So we need to think about responsibly not leaving litter. We need to be part of something as a wildlife friend working in beauty. Get out there and pick it up. I've done many litter picks and people have said to me, I bet we don't find any. Oh yes you will. I will find your litter and I will fill bags of litter.
00:08:19
Speaker
But removing that litter is youre removing a hazard from the environment. it's not about It is about picking the litter up and not spoiling how beautiful countryside and where you live and making a look untidy. But it is putting an animal at risk. So a hedgehog, for example, will get its head stuck in a tin. Animals will get caught up in plastic bags and suffocate. Things like mice and wolves will die because they will get inside and empty drinks contain like a plastic bottle and not being able to get out again.
00:08:42
Speaker
So we've just been irresponsible and part of what we can do is to really, really make a difference, work together and just think about what we're doing once we understand what animals do and we understand it.
00:08:54
Speaker
Most people have probably got wildlife living in the garden, they never see. It could be an upturned animal, it could be the caterpillars. Yeah, they might take some of your vegetables, but live with that. That's part of what it's like with the slugs of the snails, you know, slugs and snails. A hedgehog's a friend to them. So look upon where you live as being that environment. You know what? It's really, really interesting. So we've been talking all about wildlife, so shall we go and see what we can find? I think that's a great idea. It's a nice day. It's not raining. It's nice to be here at Newbrook. Let's do it. Yeah.
00:09:28
Speaker
So Jeff, you've been working with the ah RSPCA for almost 33 years now. So ah since you started, what type of things have changed? I imagine a lot.
RSPCA's Evolving Workload and Social Media Impact
00:09:38
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, ever-changing workload, still the demands of cruelty that we see today and there's as much cruelty to wildlife as we see, you know, our domestic animals or other animals that we look at. So it's changed dramatically, but equally, technology's changed with it. So we're now accessible to people, you know, I've seen the rise of social media, how people are talking, it was on social media, on Facebook, on X, which was what was Twitter now, X, on TikTok, you know, I've already done a TikTok video, that was an amazing experience for me personally.
00:10:07
Speaker
um So much as technology has made a real difference in the work that we do. But what hasn't gone away is the continued pressure. You know, unwanted animals, people being cruel. And sadly, you know, that is linked to social media. We're seeing people that are cruel to wild animals, cruel to wildlife and actually sadly sharing that on social media. And I have to, in my role, I have to witness and view some of that. And it's very, very tragic. It's very upsetting. You know, what people often forget is we are our specie inspectors.
00:10:38
Speaker
But we're still people. But honestly, the cruelty we see, the workloads of the RSPCA is as high if not higher than when I joined the job. So there's lots going on and lots of changes. and But what's really good is we have to move with the with the change and wanted to come on the journey with us.
00:10:56
Speaker
So many people might be surprised to know that the RSPCA has a long history of working with governments to change laws and also to create new ones. In fact, we've been involved in the passing of most animal welfare laws in England and Wales since we were set up in 1824. Most importantly for wildlife conservation is probably the Hunting Act of 2004. Jeff, can you tell us a bit more about the Hunting Act, what it means?
00:11:20
Speaker
Yeah, so the hunting act of 2004 basically means it's an offence to hunt a wild mammal with a dog. So that was a big piece of legislation came in from a lot of partners working together to get to that point in government. And in the RSP share, we're very, very active at campaigning. We've got some great teams. I work with some really great colleagues and we're constantly in touch as to what needs, what can we make a
Legislation and RSPCA Operations
00:11:42
Speaker
difference? And I'll give you one example, which is about badges. In 1973, the protection of badges act came in.
00:11:49
Speaker
And when I joined the RSPCA in the early 90s there was a new piece of legislation coming in called the Protection of Badges Act 1992. And why did that come into place? Because in 1973 the badger became protected. But the badger set is home, wasn't protected. So people were going out and using the defence, or, well, I can go and take foxes because it wasn't a badger set, it was foxes living there. In 1992, the significant change was that the badger and the badger set is now protected. So that's how things can change. that you know You can bring new legislation in, existing legislation can change.
00:12:27
Speaker
And often it's not new legislation, it's amendments to legislation that's made that can make a difference. And in recent years we've seen the advancement of rural crime teams, which has been really significant for the RSPCA because the by the police adopting rural crime teams which includes wildlife crime trained officers, includes heritage crime officers. We've got teams we can work with and and what's more key is on the back of that we've been able to develop operations. We're running Operation Seabird which is a campaign to so reduce disturbance to marine wildlife. After lockdown we saw many people
00:13:04
Speaker
buying paddle boards, buying kayaks, getting out wanting to enjoy being out there, of course it is. I could completely understand that lockdown in Coe was a very difficult time for the country, but on the back of it there was an increase in disturbance of wildlife, so by being able to talk to people we've been able to educate and reduce that. We've worked with Cheshire Police initially, the Nature Watch Foundation to develop Operation Recall,
00:13:27
Speaker
Great support from the police and this is a campaign because it's about responsibility and it's people who are letting their dogs off to go chase livestock. Sheep typically cattle. So we're trying to work together to prevent, to encourage responsible dog ownership so people don't let the dog off the lead and these things don't happen.
00:13:47
Speaker
So where does that fit into wildlife crime? One of the things at the moment we're seeing is arising people going out and targeting animals with catapults, things like swans, things like ducks, things like squirrels, targeting them, killing them, badly injuring them for sport. Again, now working with the police, we're working on a new operation called Operation Lakeshot to develop that preventative campaign. So it's really important that we understand legislation. It's not always about changing that legislation.
00:14:15
Speaker
It's about building a better world where we can use the legislation to work with partners to make a difference.
Appreciating Nature and Wildlife
00:14:34
Speaker
So we've reached the top of the hill here, we're looking down over Newbrook Farm um and there are so many signs that animals have been here or are currently living here. What types of things can our listeners look out for when they're out on their walks or walking their dogs to see if there's wildlife living where they are too?
00:14:51
Speaker
yeah you know what walking with nature is happiness just being out there walking just makes you happy and the best thing i would say is when you get to somewhere like this is just stop for a minute just take in what's around you and listen for any birds calling look for any signs so here we're looking at lots and lots of long grass with flowers in if i stand here long enough i'll see a butterfly i'll see one fly past so beautiful and so colorful and We all live busy lives. Why are we out walking? We're doing it because it's relaxing. It's good for our well-being. It's good for our friends. It's good for our family. Only people say, let's just go for a walk. It's the best thing ever. Want yourself happy is the right thing to do. When you're out here then, take it in and what you see, because what you see might encourage you to come back and see some more.
00:15:42
Speaker
look for any signs so for example if there was a badger set over here i can see tracks running through where's that going it's going home well actually it might be coming out might be coming back and so why because badges have a very very poor eyesight for nocturnal animal if you look at a badge it's got tiny eyes But their sense of sound, their hearing, their sense of smell is fantastic. And they will follow the same fact night after night. We can learn so much by stopping and thinking. You might see the footprint of a deer. Deer will be middle of the day now, probably asleep, probably resting up somewhere. They're laying what's called a form curled up on the ground. Take it, it could be over there. Just because you don't see wildlife doesn't mean it's not there. Look to the sky. If you look to the sky, it's long enough.
00:16:32
Speaker
Could be a bird of prey coming over. Could be a red kite. Could be a buzzard. Could be a kestrel. Could be a sparrow hawk. By the same measure, there'll be lots of small birds. You might listen. There's a butterfly there, look. I can now see a butterfly flying about. It's been here a few minutes, and already I've spotted a butterfly. Looks like a winglet. But listen to the song. Because you hear a lot of birds song in the spring, and we've got for walk, and birds are getting ready and breeding. Not just our resident birds, our migrant birds.
00:17:01
Speaker
But you know, this time here there's a lot of young birds about, birds like goldfinches, birds like that will flock together. Checking together, flying together as a group, learning how to grow up. This is the time of year now when your fox comes above ground, your leverage, your herds are above ground, field of long grass over there, there could easily be some herds running about. So get out there, enjoy your walking, do it, but just enjoy it and think how good it is. It just makes you feel so much better.
00:17:29
Speaker
So in just a couple of minutes, we're going to be looking at one of our archived films. and But whilst we're heading back, Geoff, I'd just like to ask you, what motivates you every day to get up and
Motivation and Challenges in Wildlife Conservation
00:17:40
Speaker
do your role? You've spoken a lot about, you know, the highs and the lows of your job. And I'd just be really interested to find out what it is that that makes you keep going when you see all this cruelty and, you know, things that are maybe not so nice situations. What what is it that keeps you ticking?
00:17:56
Speaker
I think my day starts, I need a coffee. I need to start with a coffee and I need breakfast first because you never know when your next meal is going to come so you always must have breakfast every morning. I'm very much driven by the fact of The first thing to me is it's a privilege to do the job. It is distressing. There is sides of it that often a lot of us don't particularly talk a lot about. So what motivates me is I think the RSPCA have an amazing organisation to work for and what they do. You know, sometimes people expect a perfect world and it's not always about a perfect world. It's about doing your best. And I think if everybody, and I know know many, many colleagues, I respect that
00:18:38
Speaker
know a lot more than me but I think if we do our best then we should be able to sleep. Because that's what the key is. We want to do the best to help animals and people often say to me, but you've got a really interesting job working with animals. I have. But you know, it's the people that cause the problems. It's the people that cause the cruelty. It's the people that shout at you. It's the people that tell you off. It's the people that tell you to go away. It's the people that don't like the RSPs here. Why? Because we're on the front line and we're making a difference and we're prepared to stand up and do something about it. And that's why we need the partners, we need the police, we need the agencies, we need people to come along on this journey with us, and we need the public. Collaboratively, the RSPCA family wants to make a difference. So I'm driven by many things. I'm generally a positive person. I think we can be negative for far too long. Just be positive about what you're doing. Positivity makes a difference. And people say to me, are you happy?
00:19:38
Speaker
How do you define happiness? I'm happy when I'm out walking. But what I do know is, generally I'm content. And I think if you're content that you're doing a good job working for an organisation that makes a difference, come with us and be one of the million voices.
00:19:52
Speaker
I think all of our listeners can probably agree that you do an absolutely fantastic job and you can really hear how passionate you are, not only about your role on it, but about the RSPCA as well. So let's head back into the animal centre, watch our clip and then we'll come back and have another chat. Does that sound okay? Yeah, that sounds good. I'm really interested to see the archive footage that we're going to be looking at shortly.
00:20:24
Speaker
Here at the RSPCA, we believe everyone can play a vital role in helping animals.
Getting Involved with RSPCA
00:20:31
Speaker
From sponsored runs to making a donation. No matter how much time you can spare, we've got ways you can get involved. Join us. Everyone for every kind. Help animals your way and click more info now.
00:20:52
Speaker
Welcome back. We're going to hear a couple of minutes from a film called Help Me about the Tory Canyon oil spill, but do not adjust your sets. This is a film from 1968 and it's from our archives. So the audio is a little bit crackly to begin with. The giant tanker stones off Land's End. She carried over a hundred thousand tons of crude oil. The leaking oil soon covered huge stretches of the sea and caused massive pollution of Cornish holiday beaches.
00:21:22
Speaker
and it brought depth to thousands of seabirds caught in their natural element and unable to break free of the vast mass of oil.
00:21:39
Speaker
They needed help, desperately and urgently. Hundreds of them, struggling and bewildered. Just like this gilimos, unable to clean or feed itself or do more than flap helplessly around.
00:22:03
Speaker
So the fight to save the seabirds was on. Emergency reception and cleaning centres were quickly opened up by the ah RSPCA.
00:22:15
Speaker
Many more sprang up overnight, manned by the local people who were determined to save their wildlife. Every means was used to aid the tremendous job of cleaning. Groups of young people organised searches along isolated parts of the coast, whilst every effort was made to comfort and feed the polluted birds which they brought in.
00:22:47
Speaker
So that film goes on to feature members of the public who brought in birds into their own homes to clean and care for them. Jeff, what's your advice for people who find injured birds and other sorts of wildlife these days?
Handling Injured Wildlife and Safety Concerns
00:22:59
Speaker
Yeah, it's great to be back in, what a lovely walk that was. I feel better already for being out in the fresh air, being out there wild with nature. Yeah, actually that video is is quite personal to me because at that time I was still at school, I was studying seabirds as part of my year-level biology and it really hit me what a problem was because to all intents and pervs that was an environmental disaster. So I actually know quite a lot about the Torrey Canyon situation sadly and it's remembered by many y and subsequently later in my life I took the decision to then apply it to join the ISP, she inspected it much later in life.
00:23:32
Speaker
So actually when you remember the public sees an injured bird or an injured small animal like hedgehog, the best thing they can do is get it to the local vet as soon as possible, get it some treatment. He's only suffering its own land effects and you know that can have various opportunities about for the wildlife centers that you work with and deal with.
00:23:50
Speaker
But equally we need paper to be sensible, so anybody you know picking up wild birds in particular should wear gloves, should do it sensibly. But equally, we've just gone through an early bad patch of ah a nasty disease called avian flu, which sadly kills lots of birds, kills lots of seabirds as well. It's a very disease that can kill birds quite quickly, that can go downhill in 12-24 hours.
00:24:13
Speaker
48 hours probably we could lose them and in that time you know we don't want the public anything else we don't want the public picking up birds because of the risks involved so I would say to anybody follow the guidance on the RSPCA website follow the advice we're giving out but if it's something like hedjago a hedgehog or a pigeon in your back garden if you can pick that up safely put it in the box, take it to your vet, that's really the best thing to do to get the treatment as soon as possible and even if you look at our website we've even put videos on there telling you how you can do it and how you can do it safely because we need to make sure you're safe and that the bird isn't because one you know wild birds wild animals are not used to being handled so the moment when you're handling them they will suffer an element of stress. We often have to
00:24:58
Speaker
think about that as well, so it's keeping it quiet, keeping it dark, getting to the vet as soon as possible. If it's a bigger animal, like a badger for example or a deer that's trapped, people will ring the others PCA and will go out and try and rescue that animal and that can involve such partners as the fire service or many of the other organisations you work with. But what it's all about is it's about getting the help to that animal however small or the big it is as soon as possible.
Avoiding Harmful Practices to Wildlife
00:25:22
Speaker
So, Geoff, you've spoken about a couple of different things, and some dangers facing and our wildlife today, but what other types of things can we look out for? I think it's a question of we need to stop doing what we do. Just because you've always done something doesn't mean it's the right thing to do. So, for example, you know, we've still got people buying sky lanterns and launching them into the sky and they're on fire. We don't know where they're going to land within those that sometimes pieces of wire, those are the hazards, that will land somewhere. So that's a real concern that you can launch something into the sky, we don't know whether it's going to end up injuring an animal. Equally, that could land on the top of a haystack, a strawstack, set that on fire, and that could be a whole winter's food supply gone far more smaller for the horses, for the cattle. So that could all go.
00:26:13
Speaker
Balloons are a problem, you know, we've got people releasing balloons, some of us are on our walks, no doubt I have. I've gone home with a balloon in my pocket because it's from somebody's released it, it's flown around, it's dropped, it's then got entangled into a hedgerow.
00:26:28
Speaker
We need to think about it. We all want to celebrate birthdays, we all want to celebrate partners, but there's other things you can do. You know, you can plant a tree, you know, memory walk, there's many things you can do, it doesn't have to be a balloon. And if you're using balloons in the house, it's a question of cutting them up before you dispose of them. One of the commonest things that people can do is people dispose of plastic bags. If you tie a knot in a plastic bag before you dispose of it, it won't blow away.
00:26:54
Speaker
Without a knot in it, it will blow away and fly and get entangled or entrapped in something. And there's lots of litter tips that we can all do on our website, on our litter details. And I think it's really key that we learn to be more responsible and remove those hazards and think of the consequences of what we're doing and think, you know what? I'm going to change the way I do that. I'm going to change my behaviour. I'm not going to use a skyline. I'm not going to use a balloon. I'm not going to drop litter. Massive.
00:27:21
Speaker
Well, Geoff, that was absolutely amazing, really eye-opening, and you've just got so much knowledge, it's fantastic. So thank you so much for joining us.
Benefits of Walking and Exploring Nature
00:27:30
Speaker
Thanks for the invitation. As you've probably gathered, I've really enjoyed it. And what I would say is walking is everything. Go for a walk, breathe in, take your time, look at what's around you, and it's just wonderful. And we live in a wonderful island. Enjoy it. ah Enjoy all that. And I look forward to the next podcast.
00:27:53
Speaker
Thanks for listening to the ah RSPCA Walk on the Wild Side podcast. It was presented by me, Holly Cushion, written by myself and Moenna Kearns, and produced by Chris Attaway and Moenna Kearns. Our wildlife expert was Rebecca Machen. The executive producer was Sarah Millerick.
00:28:12
Speaker
Special thanks to RSPCA Newbrook Farm and RSPCA Mally Damswood, all of our guests and everyone else who helped put this podcast together. To learn more about getting involved with the RSPCA, click on the link in the show notes or search RSPCA Wildlife Podcast or visit rspca.org.uk.