A Day at Pets Corner, Harlow

Always eager to raise our profile and spread the word about supporting our dwindling hedgehog population I readily accepted the kind invitation to attend Pets Corner (Harlow) Hedgehog Weekend. Although we were booked to attend Saturday and Sunday unfortunately the deep snow that fell Saturday night meant we were unable to attend Sunday. However we had such a great time on Saturday, that I wanted to tell you about our day.

When I arrived Saturday morning my first job was to set up our table. By the time I'd finished it was covered with items for sale (all made by our supporters) plus literature outlining the work we do and how people can help hedgehogs.

Our table

Between talking to visitors I watched the volunteers chip away at the ice that covered the duck pond. After a couple of hours of hard work the pond was almost clear of ice and the ducks were lining up for a drink and a paddle.

Enjoying a drink

As well as enjoying meeting the visitors we also hopefully gained a new volunteer carer and were offered the chance to have a table at a local schools pamper evening. 

During the day I was joined by one of our most active supporters (Pippa), who bought with her some of her lovely key-rings, fridge magnets and necklaces to sell. Although we were there to raise awareness and funds for the hedgehogs Pippa went home with a little more than she bargained for. Deciding she'd wander around and make friends with the animals she soon returned telling me she'd adopted a rabbit. It had been dumped outside Pets Corner and was sadly found to be in very poor condition. The staff and volunteers had spent just over a month caring for it and bringing it back to health. They were delighted (if not a little sad to see him go) to know this lucky rabbit was off to live a life of bunny luxury.
 

One lucky bunny!

At the end of the day I packed up and thanked the staff and volunteers (especially Debbie and Alex) for their help and for being so welcoming. As I climbed into my car I watched with a smile as some of the animals took themselves off to bed, in a very orderly fashion.

Off to bed

To round off a great day when I returned home I found we had five new people had liked our Facebook page and I'm sure some of the faces I recognised from Pets Corner. So I'd say a very successful day for everyone!

P.S. If anyone within our catchment area helps to organise school events and would like to support our work then please visit our website or Facebook page and contact me to discuss.  

Alan the Hoglet (part two)

On the 10th January I uploaded a video of Alan the Hoglet (one of my favourite hoglets of 2011 - yes I know I shouldn't have favourites but when you see the video you'll see why). Anyway a couple of days ago I was sorting my video files and came across this second short clip of him being busy making a nest. So many of you enjoyed the previous one I wanted to share this with you as well.

I hope you enjoy.

Foot note:

Alan spent most of the autumn of 2011 with us and when he reached a massive 900 grams and had been seen searching for natural food he was released into a large badger free private wood.