0:00:02 > 0:00:03This is incredible.
0:00:03 > 0:00:07Want to see some of Wales' wildest animals?
0:00:07 > 0:00:08You've come to the right place.
0:00:10 > 0:00:13My name is Dr Rhys Jones and I'm based
0:00:13 > 0:00:17at Cardiff University's School of Biosciences.
0:00:19 > 0:00:21I'm licensed to handle some of the country's
0:00:21 > 0:00:24rarest and most dangerous animals.
0:00:24 > 0:00:25ALL SHOUT IN ALARM
0:00:25 > 0:00:28OK, everybody, stay still!
0:00:28 > 0:00:31And if you find a snake in your bathroom,
0:00:31 > 0:00:34I'm the man the authorities will call in to help you.
0:00:35 > 0:00:36But it's not just snakes.
0:00:36 > 0:00:39I'm licensed to work with everything, from owls,
0:00:39 > 0:00:41to iguanas...
0:00:41 > 0:00:42Oh, my ear!
0:00:42 > 0:00:44..chimps
0:00:44 > 0:00:47to seals.
0:00:47 > 0:00:50Because I love the scaly, the furry,
0:00:50 > 0:00:52the crawly and the unknown.
0:00:52 > 0:00:56- What did you think you've seen? - A black panther.- A black panther?
0:00:56 > 0:00:58SHE GASPS
0:00:58 > 0:00:59My God.
0:00:59 > 0:01:03And I can help you to love them too.
0:01:03 > 0:01:06In this episode of Rhys To The Rescue...
0:01:06 > 0:01:08Wow! It's Christmas.
0:01:08 > 0:01:12..I get all over-excited about some squiggly slowworms.
0:01:12 > 0:01:15I'm all eyes for two abandoned owls.
0:01:15 > 0:01:17I cannot wait to get these guys back in the wild.
0:01:17 > 0:01:22And I save an unexpected guest from a damsel in distress.
0:01:22 > 0:01:24I was scared to death.
0:01:24 > 0:01:26I'm not surprised. It's very scary.
0:01:33 > 0:01:36When Welsh wildlife gets into trouble,
0:01:36 > 0:01:38it's often humans who are to blame.
0:01:38 > 0:01:41But nature can be just as brutal and unforgiving.
0:01:41 > 0:01:44And in a summer of storms and heavy rainfall,
0:01:44 > 0:01:47I've had a number of call outs to rescue wildlife
0:01:47 > 0:01:50caught short in the foul weather.
0:01:50 > 0:01:54And on a wet and windy Wednesday, I'm heading out to Cwmbran
0:01:54 > 0:01:59to investigate a report of abandoned chicks in a wood.
0:01:59 > 0:02:02Just had a call out from a member of the public.
0:02:02 > 0:02:04They can hear some birds in distress.
0:02:04 > 0:02:06It's the right time of year.
0:02:06 > 0:02:09We'd expect to see chicks all around these trees now,
0:02:09 > 0:02:12but it's really cold and wet and I'm just a little concerned.
0:02:12 > 0:02:15We're going to have a listen out, see what we can hear.
0:02:15 > 0:02:18Hopefully, everything's all right. Let's just have a look.
0:02:18 > 0:02:22Of course, this could all be a bit of a wild goose chase.
0:02:22 > 0:02:25And it's definitely like looking for a needle in a haystack.
0:02:25 > 0:02:28If we're looking at birds that have fallen to the ground,
0:02:28 > 0:02:32and they've fallen in these nettles, they could literally be anywhere.
0:02:32 > 0:02:36If we don't hear them then we've got very little chance of finding them.
0:02:36 > 0:02:40But we'll carry on. Obviously, they were walking along this path,
0:02:40 > 0:02:43so if they heard them or saw them,
0:02:43 > 0:02:45I would imagine they're going to be somewhere along here.
0:02:49 > 0:02:51Oh, my God!
0:02:51 > 0:02:54They're tawny owls!
0:02:54 > 0:02:55They're tawny owl chicks.
0:02:57 > 0:02:58OK. OK.
0:02:58 > 0:03:00Ssh.
0:03:00 > 0:03:02This one's clucking. That's defensive.
0:03:02 > 0:03:04- Look at that. OK, OK, OK. - OWL CLICKS
0:03:04 > 0:03:07Tawny owls will normally nest in trees.
0:03:07 > 0:03:11But they haven't nested in that tree. They need a big old tree
0:03:11 > 0:03:13with a hole in.
0:03:13 > 0:03:16Normally, they're very, very clever at climbing back up these trees.
0:03:16 > 0:03:19There'd be no problem at all. There's no way they've nested in these.
0:03:19 > 0:03:21These are too small.
0:03:21 > 0:03:24Whatever the case, they're nowhere near their original tree
0:03:24 > 0:03:27and it'd be very difficult for me to identify where they've come from.
0:03:27 > 0:03:29I think we need to try and get them some food.
0:03:29 > 0:03:32Also, I want to get them out of the hand.
0:03:32 > 0:03:33I don't want them to get used to humans.
0:03:33 > 0:03:35That's the last thing we want.
0:03:36 > 0:03:39These two chicks are a bit of a mystery.
0:03:39 > 0:03:42Tawny owls usually nest in the hollows of large oak trees.
0:03:42 > 0:03:45But there were no large oaks or any other large trees
0:03:45 > 0:03:47near to where I found them.
0:03:47 > 0:03:50There were also no signs of any adult tawnys,
0:03:50 > 0:03:52who would normally stick close and attack any creature
0:03:52 > 0:03:54threatening their chicks.
0:03:54 > 0:03:58Had the chicks become distressed and disoriented in the storm?
0:03:58 > 0:04:01Or had they been taken and abandoned by humans?
0:04:01 > 0:04:04Who knows!
0:04:04 > 0:04:06But my next step is to head to Ebbw Vale
0:04:06 > 0:04:08and the Forest Park Owl Sanctuary where owl experts
0:04:08 > 0:04:12Malcolm Jones and Russell Farr will give the chicks the once-over.
0:04:12 > 0:04:16If we pull them out and then release them and they go back in,
0:04:16 > 0:04:20- we know they're not damaged. - Two lucky little tawnys, then?
0:04:20 > 0:04:25- Yes. They're starving.- So mice for these? What do you think?
0:04:25 > 0:04:27- Rodents? Yeah?- Yeah. - Get the mice down them.
0:04:27 > 0:04:30OK. Brilliant. So you had these frozen in the back there. Great.
0:04:30 > 0:04:33We feed owls with them. Put them in front of their mouth to start them off.
0:04:33 > 0:04:37If they're reluctant to eat, they have small feathers along the bill, just touch them there
0:04:37 > 0:04:42- and they should gape then. - Fantastic.- Oh, yeah!- Look at that! - He's hungry.
0:04:43 > 0:04:46There we go. That's brilliant. Straight down, look.
0:04:46 > 0:04:50I guess the big question is, do you guys think they'll be OK?
0:04:50 > 0:04:52This one's a lot bigger. Is that what it is, he's older?
0:04:52 > 0:04:56- Six days, I expect.- It's because the eggs are laid two days apart
0:04:56 > 0:04:57in the nest by the female.
0:04:57 > 0:05:01- Right.- Of course, they're then delayed in hatching by two-day periods.
0:05:01 > 0:05:04For me now it'd be great... I don't know if you've got
0:05:04 > 0:05:08a spare aviary here that we could put the owls in?
0:05:08 > 0:05:11I'm quite prepared to come down and train them up because, of course,
0:05:11 > 0:05:14before they're released, they'll have to train up to be able to hunt.
0:05:14 > 0:05:17I can then take them back down to Cwmbran area and release them.
0:05:17 > 0:05:21'I leave the owlets in the capable hands of Malcolm and Russell.
0:05:21 > 0:05:24'And we'll return to the sanctuary to check on their progress
0:05:24 > 0:05:25'later in the programme.'
0:05:25 > 0:05:27OWL CHEEPS
0:05:30 > 0:05:34'Thankfully, the storms soon pass, the sun comes out
0:05:34 > 0:05:38'and I'm called by two damsels in minor distress to Caerleon.'
0:05:38 > 0:05:41- Hello, Dr Rhys Jones. - Pleased to meet you. I'm Sharon.
0:05:41 > 0:05:44- Sharon. Hello.- This is Kath. - Hello, Kath.- Hello.
0:05:44 > 0:05:47- You must be the lady that found the snake?- Yes, I did.
0:05:47 > 0:05:51OK. So when I spoke to you on the phone, you'd already captured it
0:05:51 > 0:05:54- or contained it, is that right? - A gentleman came over and put it in a pot for us.
0:05:54 > 0:05:57Let's have a look at what we've got.
0:05:57 > 0:05:59Oh, my goodness. Look at that.
0:05:59 > 0:06:02- That's a little grass snake. - I touched it with my sweeping brush.
0:06:02 > 0:06:05- Right.- Then it unravelled and started wriggling around
0:06:05 > 0:06:07and the old tongue going.
0:06:07 > 0:06:09- Is that what you're frightened of, the tongue?- Yeah.
0:06:09 > 0:06:13- If we look, can you see the way it's darting in and out at you?- Yeah.
0:06:13 > 0:06:15With a snake, their eyesight's not very good,
0:06:15 > 0:06:16so they poke their tongue out,
0:06:16 > 0:06:18they've got a little forked tongue
0:06:18 > 0:06:21and they taste the world around them.
0:06:21 > 0:06:23So, each of us, doesn't matter how many times we've had a bath,
0:06:23 > 0:06:26we're each smelly to a snake, we're each giving off pheromones.
0:06:26 > 0:06:30The snake's just identifying if it's in any danger.
0:06:30 > 0:06:33But it's one of the only two indigenous snakes that we have
0:06:33 > 0:06:36here in Wales. Do you think it's very pretty?
0:06:36 > 0:06:39- I've never seen one before, to be honest.- We were scared.
0:06:39 > 0:06:42- I was scared to death. - I'm not surprised. It's very scary.
0:06:42 > 0:06:44If you don't know what an animal is, it can be
0:06:44 > 0:06:46really, really scary indeed.
0:06:46 > 0:06:50- I think probably the best thing to do with him is move him to the allotments.- OK.
0:06:50 > 0:06:53- I'll do that on my own, shall I? - Yes, please!
0:06:53 > 0:06:55- Thank you.- No problem.- Thank you.
0:06:57 > 0:07:00Adult grass snakes can reach up to six foot in length
0:07:00 > 0:07:03and are Wales' largest terrestrial reptile.
0:07:03 > 0:07:07Whilst this harmless little fella is just a juvenile,
0:07:07 > 0:07:09around a year old, he's still perfectly capable
0:07:09 > 0:07:12of looking after himself back in the wild.
0:07:21 > 0:07:24First, it's a race against time. Staff at an RSPCA centre
0:07:24 > 0:07:27are working to save the lives of hundreds of sea birds.
0:07:27 > 0:07:31And it's not just owls that have had a run-in
0:07:31 > 0:07:32with the wild Welsh weather this year.
0:07:32 > 0:07:36A huge flock of Manx shearwaters were blown onto Newgale Beach
0:07:36 > 0:07:39during their annual migration to Argentina.
0:07:39 > 0:07:41On September the 12th,
0:07:41 > 0:07:44the tail end of Hurricane Irene hit the Welsh coastline.
0:07:44 > 0:07:48And in Pembrokeshire, RSPCA officers waded into the waters to save
0:07:48 > 0:07:52500 Manx shearwater from drowning.
0:07:52 > 0:07:56Some will make it but most of them haven't got a chance in the surf.
0:07:56 > 0:07:59The shearwater had set off on their long winter migration
0:07:59 > 0:08:01to South America from the islands
0:08:01 > 0:08:03off the West Wales coast,
0:08:03 > 0:08:07only to be blown back down the coastline by the hurricane.
0:08:07 > 0:08:10Exhausted, and with their feathers waterlogged, the birds faced
0:08:10 > 0:08:14drowning in the stormy surf until the RSPCA intervened.
0:08:14 > 0:08:17At the same time as the rescues in Newgale,
0:08:17 > 0:08:20I also received an emergency call.
0:08:20 > 0:08:21Because of the high winds,
0:08:21 > 0:08:26incredibly, a Manx shearwater has crashed landed in Bridgend today.
0:08:26 > 0:08:27We are en route to rescue it.
0:08:29 > 0:08:33'Bridgend is an astonishing 100 miles further east of Newgale Beach.
0:08:33 > 0:08:36'I head for the Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales
0:08:36 > 0:08:39'to meet wildlife officer Rob Parry.'
0:08:39 > 0:08:41- Thanks for coming. - Not at all. Not at all.
0:08:41 > 0:08:43Where is it?
0:08:47 > 0:08:51OK. Well, firstly, it's very bright and alert. That's great.
0:08:51 > 0:08:53So it's looking at me, bright-eyed and alert.
0:08:54 > 0:08:57Looking very, very strong.
0:08:57 > 0:08:59- Beautiful. Beautiful.- Stunning.
0:08:59 > 0:09:02Great news so far. Really trying to struggle in the hand here
0:09:02 > 0:09:04so this is fantastic.
0:09:04 > 0:09:07I just want to check the wings if I can now.
0:09:07 > 0:09:09OK. Come on.
0:09:10 > 0:09:13The wings look in beautiful condition.
0:09:13 > 0:09:14I think, to be honest,
0:09:14 > 0:09:16keeping her here is not going to do her any good at all.
0:09:16 > 0:09:21We've got to get her back out to sea as soon as possible.
0:09:21 > 0:09:25We've got to wait till it gets dark, so we've got about another hour before we can release her.
0:09:25 > 0:09:26That's going to be the best course of action.
0:09:26 > 0:09:31'The reason I need to wait until dusk to release this bird is that
0:09:31 > 0:09:34'Manx shearwaters only come ashore at night.
0:09:36 > 0:09:39'This is because they use the cover of dark to avoid black back gulls.
0:09:39 > 0:09:42'Shearwater make a tasty meal for these gulls,
0:09:42 > 0:09:45'so they spend most of their lives out at sea
0:09:45 > 0:09:48'avoiding dry land until the breeding season
0:09:48 > 0:09:51'and then only landing at night.
0:09:51 > 0:09:55'Shearwater are pretty rare and highly protected.
0:09:55 > 0:09:58'Over half of the world's 350,000 breeding pairs
0:09:58 > 0:10:03'nest in burrows and under rocks on the Pembrokeshire Islands of Skomer,
0:10:03 > 0:10:05'Skokholm and Middle Holm.
0:10:05 > 0:10:07'They breed here because the islands are free
0:10:07 > 0:10:10'of their other great adversaries, rats.
0:10:11 > 0:10:14'And so, as dusk approaches, I head out to Southerndown
0:10:14 > 0:10:17'on the Glamorgan Coastline.'
0:10:17 > 0:10:19You're probably wondering why I'm going to release
0:10:19 > 0:10:22the Manx shearwater in weather conditions like this.
0:10:22 > 0:10:25But the fact is it can pretty much deal with this.
0:10:25 > 0:10:30The wind has dropped and its best chance of survival is to get it
0:10:30 > 0:10:32back out to sea ASAP.
0:10:34 > 0:10:39This is windy but certainly not as windy as yesterday.
0:10:40 > 0:10:43And not too windy to release our Manx shearwater.
0:10:46 > 0:10:48Ordinarily, I'd release this bird from the cliff top
0:10:48 > 0:10:53but it's a fledging and I'm worried it's going to crash onto the ground.
0:10:53 > 0:10:55If it's going to, I'd rather it do it on a beach
0:10:55 > 0:10:58than off the cliff top.
0:10:58 > 0:11:00She looks really keen to get going. That's fantastic.
0:11:00 > 0:11:03OK, little one. Best of luck. Ready?
0:11:06 > 0:11:09She's away. She's away. Fantastic!
0:11:09 > 0:11:11Fantastic.
0:11:11 > 0:11:13Time for some fish and chips.
0:11:15 > 0:11:18Hopefully, this girl will now safely navigate
0:11:18 > 0:11:23her epic 6,000 mile migration to the South American coast.
0:11:30 > 0:11:32Meanwhile, I'm popping back to Ebbw Vale
0:11:32 > 0:11:34to check on the tawny chicks.
0:11:34 > 0:11:38And I quickly discover that my two chicks have got new roommates.
0:11:38 > 0:11:41We've actually got four here today.
0:11:41 > 0:11:43People see them on the ground
0:11:43 > 0:11:46and they just assume that they've been orphaned.
0:11:46 > 0:11:49Of course, the thing is with tawny owls, if they do hit the ground,
0:11:49 > 0:11:52they're very, very good at climbing up trees again
0:11:52 > 0:11:54and they should just be left where they are.
0:11:54 > 0:11:57Our two being the exception, because, of course,
0:11:57 > 0:12:01we actually lost the tree that our tawny owls were in.
0:12:01 > 0:12:06But, as you can see, these little fellas here... Might take a little bit of coaxing.
0:12:06 > 0:12:09Even at this age, they've started to be able to fly now
0:12:09 > 0:12:12and also they've got incredibly sharp beaks.
0:12:14 > 0:12:15There we go.
0:12:17 > 0:12:19The next thing I want to do, Malcolm,
0:12:19 > 0:12:22is basically see if we can get these guys to eat today.
0:12:22 > 0:12:24So what we've done is
0:12:24 > 0:12:29we've tried some mice on the end of a string.
0:12:29 > 0:12:31Humanely-killed mice, I should add.
0:12:31 > 0:12:34We're going to see if we can get these guys to eat.
0:12:34 > 0:12:37The idea is that by throwing the mice to them,
0:12:37 > 0:12:40they'll see it as a live animal coming towards them.
0:12:40 > 0:12:42We want to get that hunting instinct back into them,
0:12:42 > 0:12:47that they're going to grab these mice and take them straight off the string.
0:12:47 > 0:12:49Let's see how much success we get. OK. Let's go for it.
0:12:53 > 0:12:56Patience, of course, is the name of the game.
0:12:56 > 0:12:58At the moment, they're still settling in.
0:12:58 > 0:13:01They're still very, very nervous. That's great.
0:13:01 > 0:13:04I really want to try and get them to eat while they're here.
0:13:04 > 0:13:06'Come on.
0:13:07 > 0:13:09'Come on. Mmmm.
0:13:09 > 0:13:13'Yummy humanely-killed mice. You know you want some.
0:13:15 > 0:13:17'Hmmm. Not sure that you do.'
0:13:17 > 0:13:21I think they're more intent on trying to make a quick escape than eat at the moment.
0:13:22 > 0:13:25'OK. Skip to Plan B.
0:13:25 > 0:13:27'Plan B still involves mice,
0:13:27 > 0:13:29'but this time we've got a longer piece of string.
0:13:29 > 0:13:32'Malcolm's hiding behind a door on one side of the pen
0:13:32 > 0:13:35'and I'm hiding in the bushes on the other.
0:13:35 > 0:13:39'We're working on a cunning game of blind tug-of-mouse.'
0:13:39 > 0:13:42I'm completely blind here.
0:13:42 > 0:13:45I can't see where the mouse is going at any one time.
0:13:45 > 0:13:49So I've got to really delicately feel.
0:13:49 > 0:13:53When Malcolm tugs, it means that he's trying to move the mouse back that way.
0:13:53 > 0:13:56He's just doing that now.
0:13:56 > 0:13:59And when he stops, it's my turn...
0:13:59 > 0:14:04now to try and pull the mouse back across the aviary floor.
0:14:04 > 0:14:07It must look pretty weird to anyone watching here,
0:14:07 > 0:14:10visiting the sanctuary. Probably think there's a mad man
0:14:10 > 0:14:13with a piece of string trying to steal an owl or something.
0:14:18 > 0:14:21That's clearly not working but, in a way, that's pretty good,
0:14:21 > 0:14:24because it means that they haven't imprinted on us,
0:14:24 > 0:14:26they haven't associated us with food
0:14:26 > 0:14:28and certainly don't see us as their parents.
0:14:28 > 0:14:32Perhaps the best way forward is to get them back to individual boxes
0:14:32 > 0:14:35and they'll probably feed on their own. It'll take a couple of hours now.
0:14:35 > 0:14:38I think this exercise has proved two things.
0:14:38 > 0:14:41Firstly, whilst these owls are not yet ready for release,
0:14:41 > 0:14:43they're no fools either.
0:14:43 > 0:14:47Secondly, Malcolm and I really need to work on our mouse impersonations.
0:14:51 > 0:14:55Joking aside, it's important that these chicks learn to hunt.
0:14:55 > 0:14:59Imprinted birds such as these tawnys rely on humans for food.
0:14:59 > 0:15:02Unable to survive in the wild, they must spend the rest of their lives
0:15:02 > 0:15:04captive and caged.
0:15:15 > 0:15:18'After all that mouse-on-a-string related excitement,
0:15:18 > 0:15:20'it's time for a complete change of scenery.
0:15:24 > 0:15:25'I head for the West Wales coastline,
0:15:25 > 0:15:30'the wide blue sea, and my next rescue mission.'
0:15:30 > 0:15:33As part of my work for Cardiff University,
0:15:33 > 0:15:36I'm here on the west coast of Wales visiting two islands -
0:15:36 > 0:15:40Skomer, where I'm going to undertake some scientific research with the seal population,
0:15:40 > 0:15:43but firstly, Skokholm, where I'm going to visit arguably
0:15:43 > 0:15:45the largest slowworms in the UK.
0:15:47 > 0:15:50The island of Skokholm lies just two and a half miles
0:15:50 > 0:15:52off the West Wales coast.
0:15:52 > 0:15:55A protected site, the island is run and managed
0:15:55 > 0:15:58by the Wildlife Trust for South and West Wales.
0:15:58 > 0:16:01Good to see you, mate.
0:16:01 > 0:16:03During the summer months, it's teeming with wildlife
0:16:03 > 0:16:07and is a nesting site of world importance,
0:16:07 > 0:16:11not only for Manx shearwater, but also for puffin, storm petrol,
0:16:11 > 0:16:15guillemot, oyster catchers, razorbills and a dozen other birds.
0:16:17 > 0:16:19But this is late autumn.
0:16:19 > 0:16:21Most of the birds have fledged and migrated
0:16:21 > 0:16:24and I'm not here to look up into the skies.
0:16:24 > 0:16:27The treasures I'm seeking are generally found under the ground.
0:16:28 > 0:16:32Slowworms are neither slow, nor are they worms.
0:16:32 > 0:16:33And they're not snakes either.
0:16:33 > 0:16:36Slowworms are in fact legless lizards.
0:16:36 > 0:16:38And unlike worms, slowworms have teeth.
0:16:38 > 0:16:41And unlike snakes, they have eyelids
0:16:41 > 0:16:45and a notched not a forked tongue.
0:16:45 > 0:16:48They're our most common British reptile, but they're very reclusive.
0:16:48 > 0:16:51Until recently, little was known about them.
0:16:52 > 0:16:55I'm not just here because the slowworms are big.
0:16:55 > 0:16:58There's a real scientific reason why I'm here.
0:16:58 > 0:17:01I've found a parasite which is infecting the guts of slowworms
0:17:01 > 0:17:04on the mainland and I'm really interested to see
0:17:04 > 0:17:07if these island populations are infected by the same parasite.
0:17:09 > 0:17:13Three years ago, I discovered that our mainland population had become
0:17:13 > 0:17:15infected with two species of roundworm.
0:17:15 > 0:17:17Initially found in Eastern European,
0:17:17 > 0:17:20research into their impact is still ongoing.
0:17:20 > 0:17:23But we do know that these parasites are stunting the growth
0:17:23 > 0:17:26of the mainland population.
0:17:26 > 0:17:29Are the Skokholm slowworms also infected?
0:17:29 > 0:17:33Before I can find out, I'll have to locate some.
0:17:33 > 0:17:34This looks quite good, this area.
0:17:37 > 0:17:39Got some sheeting on the floor.
0:17:42 > 0:17:45You've really got to get your eye in
0:17:45 > 0:17:49because you may not see them straight away.
0:17:49 > 0:17:52Whoa! Look at those slowworms! There they go.
0:17:52 > 0:17:56Now, these are the enormous slowworms I was telling you about.
0:17:56 > 0:18:00Whoa! That's a catch. Oh!
0:18:00 > 0:18:02Look at that.
0:18:04 > 0:18:06Wow!
0:18:06 > 0:18:07It's Christmas!
0:18:07 > 0:18:09HE LAUGHS
0:18:09 > 0:18:11Look at the size of those!
0:18:13 > 0:18:17Well, I most certainly did not expect to be able to get
0:18:17 > 0:18:19that many slowworms that quickly.
0:18:19 > 0:18:22And Christmas just keeps coming.
0:18:22 > 0:18:26Look at the size! I've seen smaller snakes.
0:18:28 > 0:18:29This is crazy.
0:18:29 > 0:18:31There are so many. I can't even capture them.
0:18:31 > 0:18:33I'm just going to go for the biggest ones now.
0:18:33 > 0:18:36I'm stinging my hand on stinging nettles.
0:18:36 > 0:18:37Ay, ay, ay.
0:18:37 > 0:18:40The pain is worth it.
0:18:40 > 0:18:44I've got to bag them all, remember where they all came from.
0:18:44 > 0:18:45It's amazing.
0:18:45 > 0:18:48I've just put them in a little bag
0:18:48 > 0:18:50and I'll take them back up to the station at the top there
0:18:50 > 0:18:54where I'm going to analyse them, because this is valuable data.
0:19:01 > 0:19:03I won't be taking these slowworms off the island,
0:19:03 > 0:19:06but will re-release them once I've weighed
0:19:06 > 0:19:08and measured them and collected some lovely runny poo samples.
0:19:08 > 0:19:13And with a bag of 20 of these little beauties to analyse,
0:19:13 > 0:19:16it'll be dark before my work is through.
0:19:16 > 0:19:1828 grams.
0:19:18 > 0:19:21That's quite enormous. This slowworm has lost its tail as well.
0:19:21 > 0:19:2520, 24 grams on the mainland is huge.
0:19:27 > 0:19:29That's one enormous slowworm.
0:19:31 > 0:19:36Let's have a look if this young lady will donate a poo sample for me.
0:19:36 > 0:19:38Whey! There we go!
0:19:38 > 0:19:40That's what we wanted.
0:19:40 > 0:19:42Fantastic. Well done.
0:19:42 > 0:19:44Thank you.
0:19:44 > 0:19:48The average mainland slowworm is 25cm,
0:19:48 > 0:19:52but these Skokholm squigglers are way bigger. How exciting!
0:19:52 > 0:19:58Oh, my goodness me. That is a monster slowworm.
0:19:58 > 0:20:00That's the biggest slowworm I have ever seen.
0:20:00 > 0:20:05There are rumours of these guys getting to 48cms,
0:20:05 > 0:20:10but this is a 42cm slowworm.
0:20:10 > 0:20:12That is massive.
0:20:16 > 0:20:22That is it. I've taken the biometric data for 20 slowworms.
0:20:22 > 0:20:25Across the board, they are by far the largest specimens of slowworm
0:20:25 > 0:20:27I have ever seen.
0:20:27 > 0:20:30Are they carrying the same parasites that I'm seeing on the mainland?
0:20:30 > 0:20:33Well, I'll only find out when I get back to my lab at Cardiff University.
0:20:42 > 0:20:45Next morning, having put the slowworms back where I found them,
0:20:45 > 0:20:47I head for the neighbouring island of Skomer
0:20:47 > 0:20:50to check on its grey seal colony.
0:20:50 > 0:20:53When Hurricane Irene hit the West Wales coast last September,
0:20:53 > 0:20:56it wasn't just the Manx shearwater that were badly affected.
0:20:56 > 0:21:01On Skomer and surrounding islands, it was the beginning of the seal pupping season.
0:21:01 > 0:21:05Sadly, on nearby Ramsey Island, ten young pups were drowned,
0:21:05 > 0:21:09whilst here on Skomer, Wildlife Trust warden Chris Taylor
0:21:09 > 0:21:12captured some dramatic footage of a seal cow
0:21:12 > 0:21:15desperately trying to save her young pup from drowning.
0:21:15 > 0:21:19When newborn, seal pups are too weak to swim in rough waters
0:21:19 > 0:21:21and remain on dry land.
0:21:21 > 0:21:24This pup was caught by a wave and swept off the beach.
0:21:24 > 0:21:29Thankfully, Mum eventually managed to get her pup safely ashore.
0:21:32 > 0:21:37Six weeks after the storm, I'm visiting Skomer to check
0:21:37 > 0:21:40how much the hurricane affected the seal pupping season.
0:21:40 > 0:21:45With over 400 grey seals in Skomer's colony, I'm hoping to find
0:21:45 > 0:21:48plenty of evidence of new arrivals.
0:21:50 > 0:21:52That pup down there is just a matter of hours old.
0:21:52 > 0:21:54- You can hear it crying. - PUP CRIES
0:21:54 > 0:21:57It's trying to get the cow to come out of the water
0:21:57 > 0:21:59and give it its first feed.
0:21:59 > 0:22:02Eventually, when she thinks she's got him in the right position,
0:22:02 > 0:22:05she'll roll on her back.
0:22:05 > 0:22:08Just about two-thirds of the way down the body of the cow,
0:22:08 > 0:22:10you can see two teats.
0:22:10 > 0:22:12That's where we want our little pup to be heading.
0:22:12 > 0:22:15At the moment, he's still a little bit confused,
0:22:15 > 0:22:18doesn't know which end he should go to get fed.
0:22:18 > 0:22:22Then she'll move her flipper to encourage the pup
0:22:22 > 0:22:24down towards the teats.
0:22:26 > 0:22:30Actually, it can take a newborn pup up to three days
0:22:30 > 0:22:32to locate its mother's teats.
0:22:32 > 0:22:36Unfortunately, my boat back to the mainland is in three hours.
0:22:36 > 0:22:40So it's time to move on and check the island's other coves.
0:22:44 > 0:22:48And there's plenty of evidence of a successful breeding season.
0:22:51 > 0:22:53This is great news.
0:22:53 > 0:22:56I've just been looking around the island and unlike Ramsey Island
0:22:56 > 0:23:00that lost ten pups in the first night of the storm,
0:23:00 > 0:23:03the pups here look to be doing really, really well.
0:23:03 > 0:23:06I can understand that when you look around.
0:23:06 > 0:23:10I think the coastline of Skomer offers lots of little niches and caves
0:23:10 > 0:23:14where they can hide away and these guys have just weathered the storm.
0:23:19 > 0:23:22'Back on dry land, I head straight for Cardiff University.
0:23:22 > 0:23:26'I'm taking my slowworm samples to the lab
0:23:26 > 0:23:28'to probe their poo for parasites.'
0:23:29 > 0:23:31I've got a little microscope over here.
0:23:31 > 0:23:33It's not as high-powered as this one,
0:23:33 > 0:23:37but it will allow you to have a look.
0:23:37 > 0:23:40That's some slowworm faecal matter. That's what it looks like.
0:23:40 > 0:23:45It's quite peculiar in that you get this calcium plug there.
0:23:45 > 0:23:47That's from where they've been consuming all their snails.
0:23:47 > 0:23:51And the rest of the faecal matter... Well, you probably would have recognised that yourself.
0:23:51 > 0:23:54I'm going to be sieving through that with a fine-tooth comb
0:23:54 > 0:23:57to see if there's any parasites hidden inside.
0:23:57 > 0:24:02What I'm looking for here is a small nematode, a small roundworm.
0:24:02 > 0:24:07What I find on the UK is that, generally,
0:24:07 > 0:24:11slowworms are carrying two different types of roundworm.
0:24:11 > 0:24:16One of them is quite large, you can see it with the naked eye.
0:24:16 > 0:24:19It's almost a couple of millimetres long.
0:24:19 > 0:24:22Very, very difficult to miss.
0:24:22 > 0:24:25And, yet, there are none here.
0:24:25 > 0:24:29That's very, very interesting because if I took the same
0:24:29 > 0:24:33number of samples on the mainland,
0:24:33 > 0:24:35these samples would be teeming with those nematodes.
0:24:35 > 0:24:39But they just seem to be absent from this sample material.
0:24:41 > 0:24:45Have we proved that the Skokholm slowworms are so huge
0:24:45 > 0:24:47because they don't have parasites?
0:24:47 > 0:24:50Not really. We need to take a step back.
0:24:50 > 0:24:52Firstly, did I go at the right time of year?
0:24:52 > 0:24:56Perhaps the parasites don't show in the faecal matter at this time.
0:24:56 > 0:25:00What about my sample size? Well, if I want to answer the question,
0:25:00 > 0:25:04"Are Skokholm slowworms so much bigger because they don't carry
0:25:04 > 0:25:06"the parasites that their cousins do on the mainland?"
0:25:06 > 0:25:10then I am afraid I'm going to have to return to Skokholm in the future
0:25:10 > 0:25:13and get a lot more samples than I've got at the moment.
0:25:13 > 0:25:16But do you know what? It's really interesting data.
0:25:21 > 0:25:24Whilst the Skokholm slowworms will have to wait
0:25:24 > 0:25:28for their happy ending, I'm hoping that four weeks after their rescue,
0:25:28 > 0:25:30the tawny owl chicks are ready to get theirs.
0:25:30 > 0:25:33- How have they been since I've been away?- We haven't seen them.
0:25:33 > 0:25:36All we've done is fed them and looked through at them.
0:25:36 > 0:25:38We've not bothered them at all.
0:25:38 > 0:25:40- OK.- Cos we don't want to imprint them.
0:25:40 > 0:25:43No, no. Absolutely not. If they're imprinted, they'll just land
0:25:43 > 0:25:45very softly on this glove.
0:25:45 > 0:25:47I want them to attack it.
0:25:47 > 0:25:50Let's hope they will do that. There he goes. Fabulous.
0:25:50 > 0:25:52I'm just going to have a look at this one if I can.
0:25:52 > 0:25:53If you can grab his legs.
0:25:56 > 0:25:58- There we go. - With the clicking noise...- Yep.
0:25:58 > 0:26:01- That's a threat to you.- He is, he's clicking. That's fabulous.
0:26:01 > 0:26:05- And he's flying well? - Yes, he's flying lovely.
0:26:05 > 0:26:08Good. His flight feathers are through and looking brilliant.
0:26:08 > 0:26:10Look at those wings!
0:26:10 > 0:26:12What a transformation!
0:26:13 > 0:26:15There we go.
0:26:15 > 0:26:18Brilliant. So both looking good, aren't they?
0:26:18 > 0:26:20Looking fantastic.
0:26:20 > 0:26:23Right. I think we should get them on the wagon. Let's go.
0:26:26 > 0:26:29'These owls are ready for release,
0:26:29 > 0:26:32'and I'm taking them to my friend Norman's farm.
0:26:32 > 0:26:35'But our owls are not here to live an idle life,
0:26:35 > 0:26:39'hanging about in trees and twit-twooing all night.'
0:26:39 > 0:26:41Pip! Come on.
0:26:41 > 0:26:44'Norman's got them here to work,
0:26:44 > 0:26:47'keeping down the rat and mice population on his land.'
0:26:47 > 0:26:50Do you have any problems round here with vermin, rats, mice, etc?
0:26:50 > 0:26:53Yes, yes. We all have that. We run a nursery. My wife runs the nursery
0:26:53 > 0:26:58and we've got the farm. You do get a rat population in the winter.
0:26:58 > 0:27:01We used to have quite a lot of owls and then the population declined.
0:27:01 > 0:27:04I think partly because of the rise in the number of other raptors,
0:27:04 > 0:27:06especially buzzards,
0:27:06 > 0:27:09- but also the amount of light with street lighting.- Yeah.
0:27:09 > 0:27:12The owls just disappeared because they don't like to hunt
0:27:12 > 0:27:15- in artificial light.- Do you know what, Norman? I'm really keen
0:27:15 > 0:27:18to get these guys out because they've had a journey down here.
0:27:19 > 0:27:20There we go.
0:27:20 > 0:27:23Look at you. You have just grown up.
0:27:23 > 0:27:26When you look at that little bundle of white fluff that we had
0:27:26 > 0:27:30at the start and look at this. Magnificent!
0:27:37 > 0:27:40Just make sure that we get her back into the air.
0:27:47 > 0:27:51- RHYS LAUGHS - I bet you've never seen an owl before, have you?
0:27:51 > 0:27:55Well, I think what we're going to do is pop her into a tree,
0:27:55 > 0:27:58see how she goes. Come on, you.
0:28:06 > 0:28:07There we go.
0:28:07 > 0:28:09Looking much happier now.
0:28:10 > 0:28:13What was that about never work with children or animals, Norman?
0:28:13 > 0:28:17- Well, yes.- Even when they're as beautiful as you.
0:28:17 > 0:28:19Right.
0:28:21 > 0:28:24He's going to... They've both gone!
0:28:24 > 0:28:27Both of them have gone up into the trees. That's great.
0:28:27 > 0:28:29- Should be all right now. - Absolutely brilliant.
0:28:29 > 0:28:31They've probably got the idea.
0:28:31 > 0:28:33They're both in the hedgerow, both totally safe.
0:28:33 > 0:28:35Nice lot of cover there.
0:28:35 > 0:28:38- Not long till it gets dark now. - No, they should be OK.- Perfect.
0:28:41 > 0:28:46Next time on Rhys To The Rescue, there's a cobra crisis call-out...
0:28:46 > 0:28:51We're looking for a cobra. Where's the nearest anti-venom? Liverpool.
0:28:51 > 0:28:53..a scary spider from overseas...
0:28:53 > 0:28:55I've got to see this spider gone.
0:28:55 > 0:28:57..and some beautiful badgers.
0:29:07 > 0:29:10Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd