Episode 19 Dick 'N' Dom Go Wild

This show features trained professionals

working with dangerous and unpredictable animals.

So do not, we repeat, do not try this at home.

Did you know that now, right now,

there's people all around the country who are working their socks off

to help wounded wildlife and poorly pets?

And we've managed to get VIP passes for some willing helpers

who are going to get stuck in at the busiest vets,

wildlife sanctuaries and rescue centres.

You're free!

On today's show...

Brayden and Carina get lynx-leaping,

stalk storks and handle wriggling reptiles.

-Did you ever think you would be doing this?

-No.

Harriet and Luke turn into daring donkey doters

at the Devon sanctuary.

I am going to smell of apple and carrot now.

You're going to smell of donkeys too, later!

And I challenge Dom to a kitten count as we help out

a little litter at the vets.

Give us a kiss. Oh, wrong end.

It's tough and dirty work...

He's booting me!

..but someone's got to do it!

Today I am in Devon,

the place to come for clotted cream, rice pudding and donkeys.

Yes, that's right, donkeys.

Because I am at the largest donkey sanctuary...in the world!

So what I need is two helpers that are bonkers about donkeys,

but what I've actually got is these two.

'Meet best mates Harriet and Luke.

'Luke has lots of experience with animals.'

I had eight animals, the fish unfortunately died.

The rabbit and the hamster kind of died as well.

'Oh, dear. Luke does still have this cutesy-wootsie

'little King Charles spaniel,

'though he'd rather play video games than pay her any attention.

'As for Harriet, she loves dogs and cats and hates creepy crawlies.

'Correction - Harriet loves critters and all other animals,

'well, sort of bug her.

'Luckily for her, Dad has a right old creepy-crawlie collection,

'and when he's around, she's all over them.

'But today is all about the donkeys, and everybody loves donkeys, right?'

They just stand there and they stink and they give you an evil stare.

If you don't give them an evil stare back they stand there giving you

the evil stare, and you get freaked and you have to go away.

'So, two best buddies who don't do donkeys...at the moment.

'Let's see what we can do.'

Argh!

-Hi, Dawn, how are you?

-Morning! I'm good, thanks.

This is Harriet and Luke, my donkey-loving friends.

-Morning.

-Luke doesn't like animals, doesn't like clearing the mess up.

And Harriet, bit of a problem - she gets freaked out by donkeys.

You'll find they're humble and endearing creatures

and you will be wooed by the end of the day.

'The donkey sanctuary in Sidmouth has been caring for sick,

'injured and abandoned animals for over 40 years now.

'And hopefully giving Harriet

'and Luke exclusive access to their residents will show our pair

'that these four-legged fellows are anything but horrible.'

Right, then, guys, so we have to make breakfast for a couple of

our donkeys that are on extra feeds. So, if that's all right,

I'd like you to give me a hand.

'OK. How to prepare a donkey's breakfast.'

OK, ready?

'Take a handful of nice ripe carrots and grate them finely.

'Add a couple of apples.

'And mix together thoroughly with the help of your best friend.

'Then pour your mushy mess into a large container

'and add a helping of delicious and nutritious fibre nuts.'

Eurgh, I am going to smell of apple and carrot now.

You'll smell of donkeys too, later!

'There you have it, my friends -

'one smelly mix of fruit, veg and brown bits.

-'Perfect for a donkey dinner.'

-Urgh!

'That's the prep bit done, but will Harriet and Luke be able to handle

'hungry donkey duo Laurel and Hardy later?

'But first, Dom is in Kent trying to help British animals that don't

'live in Britain any more.

'Well, you'll see what I mean.'

This is the Wildwood Trust and it's set in 40 acres of wood.

And it cares for over 50 species of wild animals

which you must expect with a name like that.

Every animal sheltered here is or was found in Britain,

and is most likely endangered, which means it needs our help

to help them survive.

So, we've brought along two willing volunteers that we "trust" will help.

Fingers crossed.

'Meet Carina and Brayden.

'Now, do we have a pair of animal fans here? Let's take a look.

'Mm, not a pet in sight. Why is that, then?'

Because it takes too much responsibility.

And it's not cheap.

'Right. Anything furry or feathered in Brayden's house?'

I had three fish

and my dad poisoned them with washing-up liquid.

We had a little accident where basically we washed

the tank with washing-up liquid,

put the fish back in, and a couple of days later they died.

'Ah, poor fish. Look, it's not easy looking after pets, you know.

'What do you think of British animals?'

Pigs stink, cows stink and horses stink.

'Right, yes. The Great British countryside, then?'

It depends if it's, like, too

smelly and that.

If it is, I just want to go back home.

'Charming. We need to find somewhere superb to impress these two.

'So, on your bike to Wildwood.'

-Brayden, Carina. How are you? All right?

-Yeah.

-Good. Pleased to be here in the countryside?

-Yeah.

Brayden, apparently everything you know about wildlife

can be written on the back of a stamp.

There's a stamp. You can write everything down there later.

And Carina, apparently under no circumstances

do you ever want to clean up any mess.

Right? No poo.

I quite agree. I had my fingers manicured

and I don't want to get poo under my fingernails.

-Enough babble. Shall we move?

-Yes.

'This place is all about looking after precious species

'of Great British animals.

'Some of them still living in the wild now, others sadly died out here

'hundreds and even thousands of years ago.

'Like these Eurasian lynx.

'They haven't lived in Britain for over 1,500 years

'after they were hunted for fur and

'the forest they lived in was destroyed by people.'

HISSES

'Lynx are about the size of a big dog

'and love hunting rodents, wild boar and deer in the wild.

'These two sisters arrived here as young cubs and are part of a breeding

'programme that might one day help lynx run free in Britain once more.'

Peter, what are they going to do?

We have a great job. You're going to help us feed them,

but feed them in the way that helps them exercise and use all the skills

they've developed as a top predator.

-Cool.

-That means you're going to run through the woods

and we're going to set them after you.

That's what they would do in the wild.

'Yes, only joking, of course.

'This is one of the few places where you can see lynx on the prowl

'in a British woodland setting.

'And today we need to enter their hang-out

'and help out these predators. Sounds a tad, um, scary.

'It's not really, though. We've moved the lynx out of the wooded area

'and into the night enclosures for safety,

'and Carina and Brayden are up for this one.'

I'm roaring to go!

'Time to enter the lynx domain, and before we start - protective gear.'

I would like you to put

rubber gloves on. There we go.

'These big cats love working hard for their grub,

'and Peter's developed an interesting way of getting them to do just that,

'using a chicken on a rope.'

Can you hold just there where I'm holding like that?

That's it. Now, we need our gibbet.

Right. Now, if you can hold it just there. There we go.

Now, I need you to go over there

and pull this up so it's nice and high. Ready?

Lift the chicken away. Up we go.

Whee!

'But will the wildcats fall for our pair's hiked up chicken later?

'Harriet and Luke have been preparing a snack for a couple of

'four-legged friends in Sidmouth, and now it's feeding time.'

So this is Laurel and Hardy, my two favourite donkeys, and they're

very hungry this morning, so let's get in and give them their breakfast.

They're going to put their heads straight in your buckets,

so try and pop them down. That's it.

Put your bucket there. Well done.

There we go.

'Laurel and Hardy were rescued by the sanctuary staff a year ago

'after a call from a concerned member of the public.

'They were in a right state with their hair matted and full of lice.'

If you can look up there, those are the pictures of them in July

last year when they first arrived, and they were really skinny donkeys.

They'd been shut in a stable for six months and they hadn't been

given enough food every day, so all their ribs were showing.

They were covered in itchy lice that was making them rub themselves raw,

and their feet were painfully long.

They hadn't been trimmed for at least six months.

It's horrible the state they were kept in.

I don't get how anybody could do that to animals. This is just...

I don't know, it's monstrous, I guess.

I just think it's...like, evil.

I mean, who would do that?

'No worries now. Those days are long gone,

'and Laurel and Hardy are loving life here.

'And the donkey double-act seem to be warming up

'donkey doubters Luke and Harriet.'

Do you know how old they are?

Laurel is 13 and Hardy's 8,

so they're both kind of teenage donkeys.

But donkeys can live into their 40s and 50s, given the right care.

That's where the saying "donkey's years" comes from.

'But will the pals be able to take the next step

'in overcoming their donkey dilemma?'

-Do you want to try and have a little stroke?

-No.

No? You do.

Try and just approach Hardy.

Laurel's still a little bit nervous.

-Not right in front of him.

-'This is a breakthrough moment for Luke,

'and spurred on by his bravery, Harriet steps up to the mark, too.'

Quite warm, isn't he?

What do you think, stroking your first donkey?

He's very, very soft.

They're really lovely creatures.

When they get back to their full weight,

will they go to a new home or stay here?

They'll be in our care for the rest of their lives. They're now safe.

'Luke and Harriet are turning into a right pair of donkey devotees.

'And it's cutting-edge medical work next

'as our duo dispense an emergency...jam sarnie.'

That will start relieving the pain out of his foot

and we'll change the bandage.

'Brayden and Carina are deep in the woods

'laying out lunch for lynx.

'They've left out chicken treats for the two cats in their

'woodland stomping ground, and it's time

'to see if the lynx can track down their grub.'

They just eat animals?

Yes. They are carnivores.

They're predators, so they only eat meat.

Do they have a good sense of smell?

They have a brilliant sense of smell.

And did you see how big their eyes were? Their eyes are like

the difference between high-definition telly

and normal telly.

They can see in HD, while we can just see in normal telly.

'And it doesn't take long for one of the high-def hunters

'to find our chicken on a stick.'

-Are they clever?

-They're not that clever.

They're instinctive.

Cats don't have big brains, they're not as clever as dogs.

But they're instinctive, so everything is more of an instinct.

They don't think too much, they just act.

'The pals have hoisted the chicken high

'so the resident lynx can work for their grub.

'They're always up for the challenge of a hunt.'

Do they normally just sniff around?

They do. What they like to do about 18 hours a day is just

sit around waiting, because that's what they do in the wild.

They sit up in a tree waiting for a little deer to run by.

They might only eat every four days or something.

'But it looks like we may have set the bar a little high for the cats.

'They can't quite reach their chicken dinner.'

The lynx was trying to get the chicken, but they couldn't reach it.

'They did later, though,

'and they enjoyed their chicken dinner, eventually.

'And it's creepy critters dining in the reptile enclosure later

'as our pals dish out tasty treats to scaly, green, wild things.'

Ow! Look at that.

Well done!

'First, though, it's time for me and Dick to sort out kittens

'with vet Jason. Well, sort of.'

-Calm down.

-No, no, I don't care what animals we have next

so long as they're not kittens.

Ah, kittens.

'These two-week-old kittens need sorting into boys and girls,

'so no unwanted new babies appear in the future.

'We're doing the sorting bit.'

-Shall I show you how?

-Yes.

-It's the distance from his bottom to his bits.

-Ah!

In a male it's a lot further away.

'So now we know how to tell them apart, let the contest begin.'

Do you like flowers?

Yes? OK. Girl. Girl.

Good boy.

'This task is actually harder than it looks. Male and female kittens

'look very similar at this age, and we are not experts.'

Right in the face.

It's got to be a boy. Let's do boy.

On a Saturday, do you like watching the footie with a pie and peas

or gardening with lacy doilies?

'If you're unsure if your kitten's a boy or girl, don't try to

'work it out yourself. Take it to a vet, and they'll do it for you.'

What did you say?

KITTEN SQUEALS

Oh, OK. Lovely. Give us a kiss.

Oh, wrong end.

SQUEALS

-Boy or girl?

-Girl.

Now time for the results.

I can tell you somebody's got it partly wrong

and somebody's got it all right.

-Oh!

-What?!

Let's have a look at that.

Look, Dick wins. He got them all right.

He's literally smarter than a vet.

'Well, he's better at kitten sorting than me, at least.

'Brayden and Carina are cranking up their wildlife experiences in Kent.

'Now, a creepy-looking task involving animals you might be surprised

'to know live right here in Britain.

'These are European green lizards.

'They don't live naturally in Britain,

'but a colony lives in the South of England

'after some were released, and a few hang out on Jersey

'where it's warm enough for them.'

-It feels really weird.

-Hard.

Sort of rough and smooth at different points.

'Check this out.

'These lizards can drop their tails right off when scared.

'They leave the twitching tail behind to confuse predators

'and the lizard then does a runner and grows a new one back later.'

-What can they do to help now?

-We're going to feed them now.

Got some crickets.

-Live?

-Live crickets, yeah.

-OK.

We have one

on the end of these tongs.

'Let's hope we can get this wild thing interested in nosh.

'Ten minutes later, and our green lizard is plainly not in the mood

'for a bit of cricket.'

Is there anything else you can tempt them with?

We could try waxworms.

'These green lizards can grow up to 40cm long and eat insects,

'smaller lizards and even mice in the wild.'

Wow, look at that. Down the hatch.

'The reward for feeding up the green lizards, a chance to get

'up-close and personal with Britain's largest reptile, a grass snake.

'Susan the snake was found on a building site a year ago.

'Her hunting ground was about to be demolished,

'so she was rehomed here and is nice and safe.'

Are you telling me that you can find these in the UK?

Yeah, they're very common. Very common?!

'Susan's only a tiddler. Grass snakes can grow to nearly two metres.'

I tell you what, to start off with let me hold the head and you can just

hold that part of the tail. That's it, good lad.

Did you ever think you would be doing this?

No.

'These snakes are not venomous, which means their bite isn't

'highly dangerous, but they do look a little bit like adders

'which also live here and ARE dangerous,

'so don't ever pick up a snake if you see one in the wild.

'Top effort! These two didn't even like snakes at the start of today!

'How will they get on when they have to have to keep

'a giant bird under control?'

Big tug.

Well done! That's great.

'Until today, best buddies Harriet

'and Luke had dismissed donkeys as being dull and a little scary.

'But their experience at Britain's biggest donkey sanctuary

'seems to be changing all of that.

'Now it's time to help a hospitalised wonky donkey

'with an awful hoof.'

Today we're helping Copper, one of our hospital in-patients.

He's 20 years old and came into the hospital yesterday

and had an operation on his foot

because he had an infection in his front hoof.

So we need to make him a medication sandwich so he's not got as much

pain in that hoof and then change the bandage. Are you up for that?

-Yep.

-Who wants to put the jam on and who wants to put the medication in?

-I'll do the jam.

-Jam and medication.

'The medicine that Copper needs tastes a bit bad, which is why it

'has to be hidden away inside this delicious jam sandwich.'

Then if you put some gloves on,

I'll give you the medication to sprinkle on there.

Get that and shake it in the middle.

That's it. Well done. Harriet, if you flip it together.

Brilliant. That's perfect. Then pat it down on there.

'It's a sarnie fit for a... Well, fit for a donkey, really.

'So it's over to Copper to see if he's hungry.

'There's no wonder he looks so down in the mouth.

'You would if you'd just had surgery to remove a nasty infection

'from inside your hoof. If you had a hoof, of course.

'The medicine will help soothe Copper's pain,

'and that will make it easier to complete a check-up

'and re-dress the wound.

'Don't go throwing food down the neck of animals yourself.

'This has been arranged by experts.'

We don't normally feed them titbits

because we don't want anybody to get bitten,

but when it's a pain-relief sandwich

we feed it to them in a sandwich so they eat it.

Luke, off you go.

'Big moment, this.

'Excellent work, my friend.'

Yummy.

-That will relieve the pain, and then we change the bandage?

-Yeah.

'As soon as the painkiller has kicked in, Harriet and Luke will be

'able to join Sophie and the team and get to work helping Copper out.'

Considering Harriet didn't like donkeys this morning -

she thought they were spooky,

and Luke wasn't interested in animals at all -

I think they're doing pretty well.

Before, I didn't really like them. I thought they were really evil.

Now it's like...OK. They're cool.

Yeah, I'm liking donkeys more and more as the day goes by,

because, really, they're not as bad as everyone thinks.

They don't exactly do much, but they're actually really friendly.

'And it's more donkey doctoring later, but have they got the mettle

'to get Copper up and running?'

-How do you think he's doing?

-I think he's doing fine. Being brave.

'First, Dick explains why I have to prepare and wear goat lunch.'

I don't understand why I have to wear this ridiculous jacket.

You're wearing it to demonstrate the difference

between grass-eaters and bush-eaters.

Great(!) In that case, why do I have to wear this bushy jacket?

You see, animals like sheep eat things mainly off the floor,

like grass. So they are grazers.

-Right, OK. What are goats?

-Goats?

Ah, yes. You see, goats like branches and trees,

and they usually eat the young bits of the branches called brows,

so they're known as browsers.

Oh, right! That still doesn't really explain

why I have to be wearing this stupid jacket.

No, it doesn't really, does it? And that's a fact.

What are YOU looking at?

'Back at Wildwood Trust in Kent,

'Brayden and Carina, not massive wildlife lovers,

'have backstage passes to help specially protected animals.

'Some are so rare, they don't live in Britain here any more.

'Next up, European white storks.

'These birds haven't lived in the wild here for over 500 years.

'They became extinct here after changes in farming

'cut into their nesting areas.

'The storks were taken in from other animal sanctuaries five years ago.'

Now, today what we need to do is clip their wings, because

that enables them to have as big a space as possible

without being worried they're going to fly away.

'Sounds cruel, but it's a painless way of making sure

'they don't escape from this safe home.

'It will give them a great chance of having a future in this country.'

Now one of these has already been done and we want to do the same wing

because a couple have been removed already.

-And just to confirm, this doesn't hurt the bird at all?

-No.

The shafts of the feathers are dead, so you can't feel it.

-It's like cutting your nails.

-OK.

'By keeping the storks together here,

'it's hoped they'll rear young that will eventually return to the wild.

'Now, don't even think about clipping birds' wings yourself.'

-Do you want to try?

-Yeah.

-OK.

If you come round here, I'll hold the wing for you.

Big tug.

Well done. That's great. Good job.

Can they keep these feathers?

Yeah, you can take one, definitely.

Good work.

-Quite tough?

-Yeah.

Do you have to clip the other wing?

We only clip one side, because it puts them off balance.

If you were to clip both sides they could get wind

underneath their wings and be able to fly again.

So we can release it now.

Well done, bird. He's chomping at the bit, so we'll release him.

Countdown in three. Three, two, one.

'Yeah, OK. Not the most spectacular release, admittedly,

'but a crucial one all the same and Brayden and Carina

'have been right at the centre of this successful job.

'They've been given a brilliantly rare opportunity to get up close

'and help very special British wildlife.

'I think they've even turned into big animal fans now.'

Today was fantastic because we got to learn loads of things

about wild animals.

I've really enjoyed today because it has been a really good experience

and I've enjoyed learning about the wildlife.

'Harriet and Luke have had a turnaround in Devon.

'They arrived as serious donkey doubters

'but these lovely creatures are really winning them over.

'And it's time to help 20-year-old Copper complete his recovery

'after a serious hoof operation.'

Right, so we've got Copper out. Now what?

Now we need to take this bandage off, because it was

put on yesterday, have a look at the surgical wound, clean it

and put a new bandage on.

-Harriet, you don't look happy about this.

-I don't like blood.

-Luke, are you all right?

-Mm.

'Understandably, our helpers are a little nervy about the job

'of redressing Copper's wounds,

'but the chance to be a fully-fledged vet's assistant

'is an opportunity too good to miss. They're up for this one.'

We need to make a waterproof patch to go on the bottom of the bandage.

Harriet, if you pull on there. We need roughly four of those.

That's it. Well done.

Perfect. I'm going to cut the original bandage off,

then put some sterile gloves on and Luke can pass me things.

'Harriet's doing a fantastic job of keeping Copper calm and relaxed,

'allowing Sophie to remove the old dressing.'

Good boy, Copper.

'Then it's over to Luke to assist with the new one.'

Looked a bit sore, didn't it?

Ready, Luke? Do your bit.

That's it, perfect. I need to grab that. Brilliant.

'It might look painful, but thanks to the pain-relieving sandwich

'he can't feel a thing.'

How do you think he's doing?

I think he's doing fine. Being brave.

-Good boy.

-Then we need the black wrap bandage.

'Vet Sophie applies a final bandage to the wound before Harriet helps

'her put on the sticky plastic patches to finish the job off.'

There we go. A nice new bandage.

Good job, and of course you had two very good helpers.

Yeah? So shall we lead him back into his pen?

'With Harriet and Luke's work complete,

'it's hoped Copper will make a full recovery.

'Our pals have been converted from donkey dissers to donkey adorers.

'There's no stopping them now.'

This is a sight I never thought I'd see.

This morning when I came here, I thought donkeys were really boring.

Now I've changed my mind completely.

They're not lame, not boring, loads of fun and just great.

Before I came, I didn't really know just how friendly they could be,

but now I do.

I think it's quite surprising how much I actually like them.

Well done. Dawn, do you have they've got what it takes

to be donkey sanctuary assistants?

I think they did a great job today,

but I wonder if they've been wooed enough to come back.

Have you been wooed?

It's been very great experience, and I'm pretty sad it's all over now.

Will you start looking after your dog at home?

Maybe a tiny little bit.

Hear that, Mum? He's going to start washing the dog. Harriet?

Severely wooed.

You don't think they stare at you funny any more?

No. They stare at you, but not funny.

Good. So you've enjoyed your day?

I love it when a plan comes together.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

E-mail [email protected]