One of the purposes of this weekly article is to try and get the message across about the difficult lives these precious hedgehogs have. I need everyone to firstly check before using garden tools, strimmers are lethal, rotor blades on your lawnmowers too, garden netting causes constriction injuries, hedgehogs can’t escape this netting and they suffer injuries trying to escape, predators then move in and cause unthinkable injuries to them, finally, irresponsible dog owners, if you have a dog that you know can harm a hedgehog, put it on a lead when he or she needs to go to the toilet, even in its own garden!
It’s Hedgehog baby season now, it’s in full swing in fact, but nothing could prepare me for the shock I experienced last Saturday evening.
A month ago I admitted a female from Grange Vets, Rickardo kindly checked it over first. I started cleaning, weighing, feeding and medicating. I started with Buttercups house and, to my astonishment, she was having hoglets, there was no way of knowing that she was even pregnant, in fact I was waiting for the weather to improve to let her go.
To this day I don’t know how many she has had, she will kill her hoglets if I interfere, her cage is here in the warm and totally free from any kind of interference except for fresh food and water twice a day. She remains undisturbed, hiding under a lovely blanket, however, the last few hours she moved two of her babies that had passed away, so I could remove them from her cage.
These babies are very tiny, for the sake of these beautiful little babies, please check your gardens, they are nesting in places that you would never believe possible. Of course, I am heartbroken, she was quite poorly on admission, but I know that she will continue to nurse her remaining baby, or babies, for as long as it takes, of course she will have to remain in rescue for maybe four to six weeks where she and her babies will grow. Whilst I have other hogs here in cages, next to her, my standards remain the same for all of them. They all eat Royal Canin food and puppy mousse and kibble. If anyone would like to make a donation towards their care, however small, please get in touch.
Can I also make a point of getting this message across Out In The Day, Not OK? Please ring the British Hedgehog Preservation Society, they have my number. These beautiful mammals need urgent attention. Please do not send me an email, when you see a hedgehog out in the day, they have problems that only Rehabilitators can identify, I use tools and the powers of observation to know what action to take and when.
Thanks go to Julia, June and Valerie, Karen for her donation for a poorly boy with a bad front leg, he is currently on bed rest, on painkillers too. Can I advise you all that any hedgehog that goes to Sore Paws come here. Hilary, I have your hog too, she is fine. Sandra at Darlington Rescue is closed, please get them to me first. I have everything here to diagnose, treat and save these little ones, if I get them in time, I have admitted seven and lost two. Not a figure I can live with, but I can’t save them all as much as I want to.
Buttercups babies, they died at less than 48 hours old. Please be careful when in your garden, it’s not much to ask is it?
The British Hedgehog Preservation Society Telephone number is 01584 890801. Facebook page: Prickly Haven Hedgehog Hotel. Email: pricklyhaven@yahoo.com – not for Emergency Hedgehog Admissions.
