With Fingers Crossed

Sadly earlier this month we had a couple of cases of salmonella and although we tried our hardest we still lost a couple of hedgehogs. So, I was forced to close our doors. In order to be able to open the doors again I've had to clean the shed from top to bottom. So as the sun was out yesterday (Sunday 19th November) this mammoth job was undertaken.

Firstly I invested in loads of heavy duty cleaners.

Then anything that could carry something nasty was burned. So paper, towels etc. are now ash. Thankfully loads of people donated towels - including the local U3A. This means all the towels I had to burn have already been replaced.

Bowls, spoons etc. have also been binned and new ones will be purchased within the next week or so.

Then all cages and equipment were removed from the shed - I didn't realise how much you could get in a 6' x 8' shed.

   

It was then scrubbed and scrubbed and left to dry in the sun.

  

Some five-ish hours later everything was back in the shed, looking cleaning and sparkly.

Then swabs were taken from the work surfaces, the shelves and two of the cages.

Finally, this morning I dropped the swabs off at the fab A120 Medivets and with fingers crossed the shed is given the all clear and the doors can be re-opened.   

Hedgehogs in May by Kay Bullen - BHPS

Sadly not all have had a good winter - this is Percy
who is very underweight

Most of the hedgehogs out and about now will hopefully be in good condition and will have replaced any weight losses from their hibernation.

So the next step in the hedgehog calendar is the breeding season. Courtship is a noisy affair with lots of huffing and puffing and circling around (the male circles the female). Once completed the pair will part company and perhaps never meet again. After a pregnancy of around 32 days 4-5 hoglet will be born in a nursery nest.

It is very important, especially at this time of year, that hedgehog nests are not disturbed.  Disturbance may cause the females to abandon or even kill their hoglets. Nursery nests can be almost anywhere, under an old shed, under clumps of garden plants, even under old rugs or polythene used as a weed suppressor. So if you know you have a hedgehog that is a regular visitors then it is likely to be a female rather than a nomadic male. In which case do take care and perhaps watch at night to see where she is coming from so you have a rough idea of where the nest may be.

Female hedgehogs are often like clockwork, they appear from roughly the same direction at around the same time each night. She may miss a few nights after giving birth preferring to stay with her hoglets night and day.

Sometimes females are seen in the early morning gathering bedding, this could well be a female about to give birth, so again note where she is heading so you know the location of her nest. Perhaps have a word with a neighbour if it appears the nest may be next door. This depends on the neighbour – they are not all wildlife friendly so use your judgement. This is one of the few times when healthy hedgehogs are seen in the day and when they do not need rescuing. They will be busy and moving with purpose - so enjoy the opportunity to observe, whilst not intruding.

If you need advice or find a sick or injured hedgehog contact the British Hedgehog Preservation Society they can give general advice and perhaps details of a local hedgehog rehabilitator that you can contact. Contact them on 01584 890801 or for general advice visit their website.  

May Update

After 2 hours cleaning

Well, firstly I'll start with the news that for the first time in at least six months HQ was a hog free zone for three whole days. Yes three days! So I took the chance and gave the shed a real deep clean, much to the annoyance of the spiders who had taken up residence over the winter.

Poitkey
I received this update from one of our fosterers (Elke) about our three legged hedgehog Poitkey (an African three-footed pot - named by Helen Pringle our fab vet at the A120 Medivet).

"Every evening between 9.15 and 9.20 pm Poitkey comes out from under the shed and walks straight to his feeding station, where he munches away at the cat food we have put out for him. He is eating with devotion and even switching the dining room light on, does not stop him from eating. All we generally can see is his pointy nose rummaging for the best morsels (chicken flavour is the best!) and sometimes I think he is even laughing at the cat who is looking on enviously. It takes  him about 5-7 minutes to eat about ½ of the food and he always leaves some for later. Once he has made an hedgehog-appropriate mess in the box and wiped off his feet on the newspaper at the exit, he is off back into the direction of the shed, either for a nap or perhaps even to go further afield?

Because he left us late last year in the autumn and he is walking with surprising agility, we first thought that a different hedgehog that had found his/her way into our garden. We tried to see how many legs it had at the April weigh-in, but he did not want to cooperate and had rolled himself into a protective, but grumpy prickly ball with only his nose sticking out. However he was a healthy 772g

We then went for the David Attenborough approach to sit behind dark windows [the hide] to see him coming to the feeding station. After various observations by two diligent observers, it was then confirmed that there was a left leg missing. So we concluded that it was Poitkey as there can’t be many of those where we live.

As we are not nocturnal we then have to go to bed and never see him return from his adventures, but every morning all the food has disappeared, so we conclude that his back under the shed dreaming happily. We feel envious that he seems to have such a good life, but the hostas and other plants, usually victims of various pests including slugs and snails, show not one slug nibble, so he repays his board and lodging with his scary presence and keen appetite.

Percy

As you can see poor Percy had a waist - not good for a hog

This poor chap came to us a few weeks ago via the Bishop's Stortford Veterinary Hospital.  Although almost 600 grams and no outward signs of illness or injury he was extremely thin. As you can see from the photograph he has a waist  not something a hog should have. He'd obviously had a very difficult winter (like many of the hedgehogs we are hearing about). He has been putting on a small amount of weight but he's still not quite right. So yesterday (17th May 2016) he was taken to see Helen who gave him a lungworm injection. He has another two to go and we find that by the second one they really do start to pick up. So once he's a little better he'll be going out to one of our short term carers.

Bones

Look at all that lovely body fat and those healthy bones

Bones came in to us late last year. He was thin and had an elastic band around his throat (if you ever see one of these or a hair band etc. on the ground please pick up, break and put into a bin). Thankfully it hadn't cut into his skin but it had been on there for quite some time. He was X-rayed and it was discovered he had very low bone density, probably he was not eating very well because it just so uncomfortable to do so. Although we tried to keep him awake he decided he was going to hibernate, so he spent a lovely winter snoozing with our longest serving volunteers Di and Rob. I'm glad to say that after a second X-ray yesterday (it was a very busy hoggie day) he was given the all clear and he has been returned to the wild. 

Mabel

Our latest resident was found out and about on the 17th May. She has been treated for fleas (no they don't all have fleas I promise you) and she is going to be observed over the next week. If all seems well she is going to stay with Di and Rob for a while and once she reaches 600 grams she'll be released into their garden. We'll then keep our fingers crossed she comes across the lovely Bones or one of the many other males who visit the garden and makes a new friend. 

Last but not least please remember it's baby season now so take care whilst gardening and if you don't already at least do so put out some clean water for them. However a little food is also always welcome. For advice on what to feed them just click on the 'feeding' button along the top.  

Hedgehogs in March by Kay Bullen (BHPS)

The flowers are confused; the birds are confused so I guess the hedgehogs will be too. Is it time to get up yet? Well some of the male hedgehogs would normally be awake this month but some of the others might wait longer. So whenever it is that they appear, early or late, we must be ready for them.

Is our garden safe for any visiting hedgehogs we may ask – check the BHPS’s website.  The Gardening ‘with’ Hedgehogs leaflet will warn you about some of the dangers in the garden, so perhaps you can get those dangers sorted out before we hit hedgehog season!

Make sure there is plenty of water to drink – you would be thirsty if you had not had a drink for several month and hungry of course. Can the hedgehogs move freely from your garden to your neighbours, have any “hedgehog highways” become overgrown or blocked? Any nest boxes that were definitely unused over the winter could be readied for any new lodgers.

I would not recommend putting a feeding station too close to any nest boxes.  If a female has her hoglets in a nest box she would not be happy about other hedgehogs coming close to her new family.  Nor would she be happy about any cats that might try their luck at the feeding station.  A few dry biscuits could be scattered, initially nearby, or even in the entrance of, an empty nest box but once occupied feed elsewhere. Remember the tip to place a small screwed up piece of paper in an occupied nest box entrance, when it is pushed aside you know a hedgehog has left the nest – but it may also have returned so do not disturb the box. 

Also please take a look at the new ‘Hedgehog Petition’ calling for greater legal protection of our prickly friends.

If you need advice or find a sick or injured hedgehog contact the British Hedgehog Preservation Society they can give general advice and perhaps details of a local hedgehog rehabilitator that you can contact. If you are within 15 miles of Stansted Airport you can always contact us - details can be found on The Herts Hogline website.   

Hedgehogs in August - by BHPS

Those hoglets born at the start of the hedgehog season will already be independent. Some of you may have had the unforgettable experience of seeing a mother hedgehog trundle across the lawn followed by 3 or 4 miniature replicas.

Once they are 8 weeks old they will tend to disperse and mum may even try for another litter. Although these juveniles have had some experience of foraging, if the weather is very dry, they will struggle to find food. Putting out a dish of hedgehog food or meaty cat or dog food and a shallow bowl of water at this time of year is a good way to encourage one of this year’s juvenile to settle in your garden. 

If you have an uninhabited hedgehog box, now is a good time to clear out any old bedding and replace it with new. To check the box is empty place a small piece of screwed up paper in the entrance late one afternoon. If a hedgehog is sleeping there it will push the paper aside as it leaves the nest. Repeat for a few days to be absolutely sure nothing is using the box before opening it up. If there is a resident, do not open the box or attempt to clean it. To attract hedgehogs to a vacant nest box initially you could leave a trail of biscuits in and around the box. Once it is inhabited leave the food further away as they may encourage other visitors into the box and your original visitor may be displaced. Using dry hedgehog or cat biscuits means there will be no smell from decaying food and they can be left out for some time before they become inedible. Slugs may also be less likely to be attracted to them. This cuts down on waste and cost. Do remember to supply extra water as dry food will make them thirsty.

The numbers of some parasitic worms can increase at this time of year and some of the smaller hedgehogs may end up with very heavy worm burdens. Do keep an eye open for any hedgehogs about in the day that seem to be in trouble. Back in June and July quite a few hedgehogs may have been seen around at dawn and dusk because there are less daylight hours for them to forage in. Those hedgehogs will have been moving about with a purpose i.e. searching for food. Ones that are poorly will be listless (or even static), wobbly or both. Hedgehogs that appear to be asleep in the open are in trouble and need your help immediately.

If you find an abandoned hoglet or a sick or injured hedgehog either contact us (if you live in the area we cover) or contact the British Hedgehog Preservation Society they can give general advice and perhaps details of a local hedgehog rehabilitator that you can contact. Contact them on 01584 890801 or follow the link above. For more general information about hedgehogs and how to help them visit the BHPS website.