Triplets Followed By Twins

On 16th of July I received a call from a lady who had found a small hoglet (a female) out of its own. Unfortunately due to work commitments HQ was closed. Thankfully Sophie from the A120 Medivets (Bishop's Stortford) had offered to help if any hoglets needed it. So the hoglet was dropped off to her.

The next day it's siblings (a brother and a sister) were found. Thankfully they had been picked up quick and were fairly healthy apart from a few fly eggs. The two girls weighed 85 grams whilst their brother just 75 grams. Then a few hours later another two hoglets were found by another member of the public. Sadly their mother had been found dead and at just 30 grams each would surely have died. Although Sophie had her hands full with the triplets she madly agreed to take on the twins as well.

Sophie kept me updated and by the 20th the triplets had reached around 100 grams each and the twins were trying to eat by themselves.

The triplets

One of the triplets enjoying a little tea

Under Sophie's tender care the triplets and twins continued to thrive and were soon looking for a fosterer to fatten them up (ready for the winter) and take them for walks to get used to foraging. In stepped Alison (and her family) who took on the task of caring for the triplets and Di (and Rob) took on the task of caring for the twins.

Both Alison and Di have kept me up-to-date with the progress of the triplets and twins. Here are just a few of the lovely photographs they've sent me.  

The Triplets:

The triplets enjoying their new enclosure

23rd August - what a handful!

One of the triplets - free to roam the garden

The Twins:

The twins enjoying exploring their new home

Fizz keeping guard

 
Hopefully by the beginning of next month all five hoglets will be large enough to be returned to the wild. Now we're waiting for the autumn babies to start coming in so we can start the process all over again.

Pocket Full of Change

It's that time of year when we return from holiday with a pocket full of foreign currency. Many of us never know what to do with it so simply throw into a the nearest drawer or pot. These coins then spend months perhaps even years lying there doing nothing.

Well that doesn't have to be the case. Many not-for-profit organisations (such as Herts Hogline) and charities collect and sell foreign currency to raise much needed funds. For each bucket of foreign coins Herts Hogline can raise around £60. This would cover the cost of care and rehabilitation for two hedgehogs.

So please collect those coins. Ask family and friends for theirs. Perhaps encourage a school or an after school club such as the local Brownies or Cub Scouts to rescue those un-loved coins and put them to work.

Up-date on Vince

Background: 
In October 2010 a large male hog came into us very flat, very skinny and close to death. He surprised us all by how determined he was to not give up the battle. Unfortunately it wasn't until he was much better that we realised Vince was partially paralysed (back legs). However he had shown no signs of being stressed it was decided to find him a new home. So in March 2011 Vince moved into his new forever home with one of our fab volunteer fosterers Elaine.

August 2013:
On the 12th August I received a message from Elaine saying she was a little worried about Vince, he was smelling. Knowing he was a fully grown adult when he came to us and he's been with us for three years this October we braced ourselves for bad news.

We agreed Vince would need a trip to the vets. However prior to this visit he'd also need a little bath in warm salty water, just in case there was an infection and to ensure there were no maggots.

Vince drying off after 'Operation Rinse Vince'

Once he was dry Vince was placed outside in a run, he normally enjoys the freedom of the entire garden. However you can never trust a hog to be where you want them to be, so we decided to play it safe and place him on 'house arrest' for the night. 

Temporary run

The following day Vince was taken to Enfield Medivets and was seen by Kelly. It was discovered Vince had cut one of his back legs and it was now badly infected. The wound was cleaned and a small drain was fitted and Vince returned home the next day. At present he is recuperating indoors but is now well enough to accepting visitor. 

Vince being as sociable as Vince gets!

He has two more doses of anti-biotics to go and a quick check up at the vets. We are hoping that by the middle of next week he'll be back out in the garden with Shirley (one of our one-eyed hogs). 

We'll let you know how he progresses.