Now, one of the kids is in my open shed, sleeping in the shelf made himself a bed of bubble wrap. We will keep an eye on him.
It’s so or so a secret to me how they come into my garden. We have 3 entries on the right and top side, but how they manage to come from the left side, no idea. There is a tiny gap but it is really small.
After contacting the Hedgehog help they told me we can move him out of the shed. My neighbour has a nice place in shade in front of the house. OMG, he was big and heavy, and sleeping, and looked really healthy. I binned the bubble wrap so that he can’t hide in my shed. Let’s hope it stays like this.
We have our wildlife camera trained on the hedgehog's "front door" under the shed. We've got plenty of photos of him/her carrying bedding in at night, but yesterday evening we were thrilled to get some pictures before it was dark:
It presumably went off foraging for food, and the next photos showed it returning at 3am. Hope it's finding plenty of natural food - we don't want to encourage the local rats by putting out cat food.
Since 2019 I've lived in east Clare, in the west of Ireland.
We're trying to find out if the hedgehog has made himself a "back door" elsewhere under the shed, because he didn't appear last night. The shed is raised on concrete blocks, so there are plenty of gaps he could use...
Since 2019 I've lived in east Clare, in the west of Ireland.
Post from my local rescue. Please pass the information on to anyone you think might be concerned/ interested.
"Please help your local rescues by ignoring much of the media hype at the moment. Rescues across the UK are at bursting point with sick, injured and orphaned hoggies.
On top of that the usual media hype has started about winter hibernation weights and pumpkins, please can everyone just get a grip. All that is happening is the phone calls and picking up of healthy hogs which is already having an impact on rescues.
As for Winter weight, it’s only September, we only need to worry about winter weights when we are getting regular full night frosts, which last winter were few and far between. If the winter is mild many do not hibernate.
Research has shown that hedgehogs can successfully hibernate at 450g. Last year as a rescue we didn’t start to worry about weights of hoggies out at night and behaving normally until the end of December when we started to get colder nights. For a hedgehog to hibernate the night temperatures need to be regularly below freezing, and not just for a couple of hours for the whole night.
So please stop calling rescues about hedgehogs out at night that are too small for hibernation, " while it’s mild keep them in the wild".
The next hype! PUMPKINS, there is so much incorrect or exaggerated information about hedgehogs and pumpkins, as a rescue we would advise that pumpkins are disposed of in the same way you dispose of other fruit and vegetables, either in the food waste or composted.
Hedgehogs will not choose to eat pumpkins and like the myth about fallen fruit, a hedgehog seen next to fallen fruit or veg is actually eating the insects and grubs that are within the fruit or veg. If they did love to eat pumpkins then our local pick your own would be in trouble with them being a vegetable that grows on the ground.
Last year I put 2 chunks of pumpkin in with the hoggies wet food in the rescue ( all hoggies nearing release) the following morning out of the dozens of chunks of pumpkin in the cages most were either tossed aside, had a big on them, or they ate the cat food around the pumpkin, 1 hedgehog had taken a bite out of 1 chunk and it did not effect him or his poo in the following days, 1 hog had eaten 1 chunk and again it did not effect him or his poo in the following days.
Like most things, when you really think about it, it is clear to see that so much is hype, and that hype only adds to our workloads.
In the coming months please continue to support feed with cat food, hedgehog food and fresh water, and keep it simple, that is all they need. Keep an eye out for those coming out in the day that are moving slowly, attracting flies or laying in the open, look out for hogs out at night that are injured. Those need help and they should be placed in high sided box and your local rescue contacted.
Please this year let’s not fill social media with hype, which causes panic and extra work for many who are already pushed to the limit "
For those wondering if hoggies are doing ok in the weather at present, this is one I saw this afternoon. It is small, half the size of an adult, out at 2pm on a foggy, damp, dark day, digging around in my garden , (and it knew what and where to find food, as it turned its nose up at the food in the feeding station) and perfectly fine. It looked fit and was obviously healthy even though it is small, and after doing a turn around my garden it went off into next-door.
"My" hedgehog was still around a couple of nights ago. Although there was no food put out, he (?) took advantage of the bowl of fresh water that's always available. The recent cold spell has probably put paid to any visits for a while. In the meantime, here's a picture from my local rescue of "Spud". She was the runt of the litter and was suffering from ringworm which has been successfully treated. Now it is just a question of waiting for her spines to grow back. She has been in the rescue since last Summer and will hopefully be released in the Spring, spine growth permitting
A recent conference was held at Hartpury college in Gloucestershire for hedgehog rehabilitators. Around 200 people came from 11 different countries, and not just those who run rescues.
Various subjects were covered, and my local rescue lady was among those who attended. She issued an invitation for delegates to visit her rescue, and was visited by rescues and vets from Denmark, France, the UK and a researcher from India who had never seen a European hedgehog. The following daythere were visits from a vet and rescues from Turkey, Malta and Gozo.
Hugh Warwick has posted a comparatively brief report of the various talks for those who are interested.
Posts
I ♥ my garden.
I ♥ my garden.
https://www.instagram.com/thehedgehogsociety/?hl=en-gb
It presumably went off foraging for food, and the next photos showed it returning at 3am. Hope it's finding plenty of natural food - we don't want to encourage the local rats by putting out cat food.
"Please help your local rescues by ignoring much of the media hype at the moment. Rescues across the UK are at bursting point with sick, injured and orphaned hoggies.
Last year as a rescue we didn’t start to worry about weights of hoggies out at night and behaving normally until the end of December when we started to get colder nights.
For a hedgehog to hibernate the night temperatures need to be regularly below freezing, and not just for a couple of hours for the whole night.
If they did love to eat pumpkins then our local pick your own would be in trouble with them being a vegetable that grows on the ground.
Keep an eye out for those coming out in the day that are moving slowly, attracting flies or laying in the open, look out for hogs out at night that are injured. Those need help and they should be placed in high sided box and your local rescue contacted.
In the meantime, here's a picture from my local rescue of "Spud". She was the runt of the litter and was suffering from ringworm which has been successfully treated. Now it is just a question of waiting for her spines to grow back. She has been in the rescue since last Summer and will hopefully be released in the Spring, spine growth permitting
Various subjects were covered, and my local rescue lady was among those who attended. She issued an invitation for delegates to visit her rescue, and was visited by rescues and vets from Denmark, France, the UK and a researcher from India who had never seen a European hedgehog. The following daythere were visits from a vet and rescues from Turkey, Malta and Gozo.
Hugh Warwick has posted a comparatively brief report of the various talks for those who are interested.
Petition update · The International Conference for Hedgehog Rehabilitators · Change.org
Petition update · International Conference for Hedgehog Rehabilitators part 2 · Change.org
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