Secret miracles

A BADGER without stripes is the latest guest at a Somerset animal rescue centre. 'Snowy', as he has been nicknamed by staff, arrived at Secret World Rescue Centre in East Huntspill earlier this month. The elderly animal was malnourished, underweight and covered in parasites when he was picked up in Devon and brought to Somerset. The rare five-year-old albino badger has been making steady progress at Secret World and is now gaining weight and munching on his food, ready to be released back into the wild. Snowy likes nothing more than snuggling up in his hay and sunbathing under the heat lamp in his pen. Manager Pauline Kidner said: "He is a very quiet fellow and we walk him up and down the corridor to see how he is progressing. He is becoming familiar with his surroundings and knows what we are doing when we go in to feed him. "We are trying not to handle him too much so he can be released into the wild in a few weeks."Secret World has has had a starring role on television this week. The One Show ran a series of programmes on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday on BBC1, following the lives of Splish, Splash and Splosh, three orphaned otters who grew up at the centre.They were rescued from under a garden shed and stayed at Secret World for 18 months before being released back into the wild in May. The One Show has been following the otters' story from rescue to release.Secret World staff have also been busy helping Sammy the Seal, who was flown to Scotland to be released into the wild. The high-flyer was rescued from Berrow beach where he was found underweight and suffering from an infection. Pauline said: "We had to start his feeding off slowly and we made him mackerel smoothies which he consumed through a tube. He was a fabulous animal and all the staff really miss him."For more information on Secret World, which relies on donations from the public to continue its work, visit www.secretworld.org