Rescues all over the country have been finding things difficult to say the least and mine is no exception, we have all admitted a lot of babies that need to be overwintered, hoggies that have no chance of getting to the minimum weight of 600 grams before they need to hibernate. The likes of Roy’s, Jackie and John’s the list is very long. I am also disheartened, over the last two weeks six hoggies have been admitted and died within hours, two specifically are quite upsetting, firstly a 105g hoglet that the finders kept for two days. Hoglets without their mum need a constant temperature of between 31-35c in an incubator, this little female lasted six hours here and died, I was powerless to change this outcome. The second hog was brought in by June and Ian, we called him Benji, he had a big wound on his back which was the size of a 50p piece, he had flies take an interest in him, some of which had laid eggs on him and some had already hatched into maggots. He had to be cleaned of these awful things before he was warmed up, heat accelerates them to hatch. He was given pain relief, antibiotics and a comfy bed with a heat pad, a few hours later he passed away. Hopefully pain free.
This is the other side to rescuing that I find it difficult to talk about, I can speak for all rehabbers across the country that when you see a hedgehog out in the day it’s at risk, time is of the essence if we are to help them survive, also if anyone knowingly captures a wild animal, hedgehog specifically, without knowledge, equipment or being overseen by a rehabber, this is illegal, a crime under the wildlife act. They are unbelievably cute but they can fall ill very quickly.
On a positive, I have a lot of babies here that need to be overwintered, like babies that were brought in Tuesday, Itsy and Bitsy, they are a mere 117 and 120 grams, but now safe here with me ‘til spring.
Contacts: British Hedgehog Preservation Society 01584 890801. Facebook: Page Prickly Haven Hedgehog Hotel – My email: pricklyhaven@yahoo.com
Thank you.