THE feathered and furry patients at Oak and Furrows were the stars of the show when the wildlife rescue centre held its open day yesterday.

As visitors watched tiny critters being fed, caught glimpses of shy foxes in their pens or played pin the tail on the squirrel, the work of the volunteers went on uninterrupted.

A sick hedgehog was brought in to the refuge at Blakehill Farm by Mandy Lee. She had found the distressed creature in the garden of her home at Coleshill. A quick examination revealed it was covered in ticks.

She left it in the capable hands of the animal carers who said they would feed it and remove the ticks.

Outside families browsed the stalls and games in the sunshine, took a peek at the residents of the hedgehog hospital and listened to music from Cricklade Town Band.

“This is our biggest fundraising event of the year,” said head of administration Chrissy Ball. “It is to thank all of our supporters and to show them around the facilities.”

Some were so impressed they wanted to get involved. “Our greatest need at the moment is for fundraisers and collection drivers,” she said. “We have had a really positive response.”

As well as touring the pens, going on a treasure hunt and enjoying a puppet show, visitors could also listen to talks from the manager about the work of the centre.

Oak and Furrows, which has poet Pam Ayres as a patron, moved from Somerford Keynes to its new base at the former RAF airfield near Cricklade last year, just over 20 years after it was founded by Serena Stevens.

Down the road at Purton residents were also out and about searching for colourful interlopers.

It was the second time the village had staged a scarecrow trail. The last one two years ago was based on nursery rhymes and raised enough money for a defibrillator at the village hall.

This time round the theme is musicals and the money will go towards maintaining the lifesaving device.

Lindsey Hall, who organised it along with Ali Bunce and Ali Davies, said: “We like doing scarecrow trails around other villages and we decided it would be nice to do it in Purton. Four of us just got together and decided to do it.”

Mrs Davies added: “It is really nice to organise. People want to do it and I think it brings the village together. People are going up and down the little lanes and cul de sacs and meeting people they haven’t seen for a long time.”