Hedgehogs - Going Live!

I was very fortunate to go and see a live hedgehog recently.  This male hedgie is living at Cuan House in Much Wenlock.  Cuan House strives to rescue, rehabilitate and release wild animals.  They are chuffed when an animal can be released in the same area that it originally came from.   

 If you are interested in giving to a good cause, Cuan House does great work for the animals.  Think about giving to them.

http://www.cuanhouse.org.uk/

Cuan house is moving to a larger facility closer to the wood.  They could use funds to complete all of their plans, in their own words: Purpose-built hospital block with reception area, treatment room, separate rooms for the small mammals and birds and so on, not to mention space for bigger and better aviaries.

I'm glad  the flash of the camera was off, as this guy is wild and a bit timid.  The click of the camera gave him a start on one of the snaps.  Having said that, he seemed fairly calm overall.  Yes, he would rather go back to a good daytime kip.

 

Even better would be a release, but the weather isn't co-operating.  Snow in March and very cold....We need to reload Spring!

   

 

Much Wenlock, March 2013

 

 

The list of releases is very short right now. 

                                     

Hibernating animals in general are having a hard time in this weather. Waking up to extreme cold and lack of food sources.


                                    

Something I learned, also pertains to hibernation. Hedgies all hibernate differently. Most people think that they all go into a great sleep and wake up in a few months. The fact is some wake up and have a nibble and a drink of water and go back to sleep. There are different lengths of time individual hedgehogs will hibernate.

                                     


Some important things I learned about the plight of hedgies: In the wild, badgers are the natural predator, but humans are a bigger threat. The hedgies get struck by cars, and slug pellets left by humans get ingested.   There is little to nothing that can be done for a hedgehog that ingested slug pellets.  Instead of using the pellets, maybe do what I do when gardening.  Put saucers of beer out to trap the slugs that are eating your garden.

 

 

Some things you can do in the garden to help these creatures:

 

Solid fences and walls restrict a hedgehog’s movement through gardens. Make sure you leave small gaps at their bases

Hedgehogs can swim but often drown in garden ponds because of their steep and slippery sides. Provide them with an escape route: a piece of wood, chicken wire or pile of stones

Bonfires make good places for hedgehogs to nest. Check them to make sure a hedgehog has not made its nest before lighting

Be prepared to leave a small part of your garden to go wild. Long grass, log/leaf piles and undergrowth provide foraging and nest places for the perfect hedgehog habitat

Feed your local hedgehog, but please provide dog/cat food and not bread and milk.

Taken from the website:

http://www.devonwildlifetrust.org/help-the-hog/

 

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Newborn  hedgehogs are born without spikes, but within a few minutes they start to poke out in white spikes. 

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More hedgehog goodies from the world of Etsy:

https://www.etsy.com/treasury/MTI4MDc2Njd8MjcyNDIwODYzMg/more-hedgies?ref=pr_treasury

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Don't forget to give the British Hedgehog Perservation Society some love:

http://www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk/