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Seabird
03-Nov-11, 20:49
There are a lot of Grey seal pups usually called whitecoats laying on beaches along the Caithness coast at this time of year.
This morning i heard that some thoughtful person saw one on it's own on a beach and took it home.
I can understand that some animal lovers think they are saving an animal in distress, this is far from the truth.
Whitecoats are left on beache by their mums who will return to feed the pup when the beach is free from people.
By handling a pup or allowing a dog to touch a seal pup will change the pups scent and the mother will not recognize her pup and will not allow the pup to feed and may even kill the pup. The younger the pup is the harder it is for it to survive if it is rescued, the substitute milk that is fed to rescued pups is expensive and does not contain the rich fat and antibodies that a pup needs.
The best advise if you see a pup on a beach is keep a good distance and if you think something is wrong contact either the SPCA or the BDMLR and they will get a trained medic out to look at the pup. Most pups just need to be left to develope, Mums will feed for up to 3 weeks then the pup will molt and then go to sea to feed. (this timetable is only a guide and not set in concrete). Some pups will molt earlier and some mums will stop feeding earlier. The majority of pups will be gone by Christmas.

BDMLR 01825765546 (out of hours 07787433412
SPCA 03000 999 999

Colin
www.caithness-sea-watching.co.uk