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.   

Hedgehog Cards Galore

I was recently contacted by a  teacher at a local school who had set hedgehogs as the theme for a class project. She asked if I could visit the children and talk to them about hedgehogs and the work we do rescuing them.  I suggested I put my author hat on as well and take my picture book with me 'A Book For Bramble' and read that as part of my visit.

During my visit I was amazed at the facts the children already knew. These included:

• They are nocturnal
• Their main defence is to roll into a ball
• They eat slugs, snails, caterpillars, bugs etc. but you can also feed them hedgehog food or cat/dog food
• It's good to leave water out for them during hot weather 
• Our hedgehog population is in decline
• There are different types of hedgehogs
• Hedgehogs are quite good swimmers
• A hedgehog can run up to 4 miles per hour (although I know they are fast, as I've had to chase escapees, I didn't know it was that fast)

Now although I enjoyed the visit I must admit what arrived today in the post really made the visit special. An envelope containing hedgehogs cards galore. They will go into the hedgehog shed and pinned to the wall but before I did that I wanted to share them with you.

All the cards kindly sent to me by the children

Hedgehogs galore!

Lots of hogs plus a little mouse called Teasel 

I hope you've enjoyed seeing these images. If you're a teacher about to cover the theme of hedgehogs and would like me to visit please click on the 'support us' button for more details.

Last but not least this winter our hedgehogs have really struggled, many may have sadly died in the floods. So they need our help more than ever. So if you know a hedgehog visits your garden then you may wish to supply it with a new home or perhaps leave some food out. 

And the IFAW Vet of The Year is .....

A few months ago I saw a form asking for nominations for the IFAW yearly awards. One of the categories was 'Vet of The Year.' I knew exactly who I wanted to nominate and so picked up the form, took it home, completed it and sent it off. I thought no more of it until I received a call from Helen (from the A120 Medivets) asking me if I wanted to join her at the IFAW awards ceremony.  

She'd won! Now I don't want to sound surprised because she really did deserve to win, but you never think that when you nominate someone they'll win. However I wanted to thank Helen for all the hard work she does for us and other local organisations, such as Mutts In Distress and nominating her was the best way I could think of doing it.

So there we were on Tuesday (22nd October) in the Houses of Parliament, holding a glass of wine and nibbling on the most delicious food, listening to Bill Oddie as he introduced the winners of each category. Needless to say we had a fab time and what follows are just a few images of our day.

Bill Oddie introducing the winners

Helen receiving her award - couldn't get a better view there were these official photographers in the way! 

Helen with her award

The view across the river taken from the House of Parliament 

P.S. My claim to fame - I've now heard Bill Oddie say Herts Hogline. He's very unlikely ever to remember that but I certainly will.  

With A Lot Of Help From My Friends

When Herts Hogline first started caring for hedgehogs there was just me. However that was around 20 years ago. Now I have a lot, and I mean a lot of help from my hedgehog loving friends. As of January 2012 Herts Hogline is made up of:

• 2 full-time fosterers caring for disabled hedgehogs
• 3 supporters who donate food and collect used printer cartridges and old/foreign coins
• 1 supporter who makes and donates for resale fab key-rings and fridge magnets (click here to see the key-rings) 
• 14 carers who look after hogs in their back gardens 

Plus the support of Helen and her team of nurses at the A120 vets just outside Little Hadham, Bishop's Stortford.

Without the help and support of this dedicated 'team' Herts Hogline would not be in the business of rescuing hedgehogs. To prove this point I wanted to share the story of a visit to the A120 vets on 9th March 2012.

Our first hedgehog of 2012 came in covered in ticks, very skinny, unwilling to eat and she had something wrong with her eye. So off she went for a full examination. This entailed a whiff of gas followed by:

The deft removal of a grass seed that had become lodged in the eye, with the help of a damp cotton wool bud.  

This is the offending grass seed

The expert removal of the many, many ticks that had not been killed by the tick treatment the previous day. You can just spot a huge tick under her chin!

A good feel of all limbs to ensure there were no cuts or breaks. As it is common for hedgehogs to come in with horrendous leg injuries. And yes those grey ovals are ticks making a run for it! 

And once given the all clear this is 'Helen the Hog' (as she has been named) wrapped in a towel next to a hottie to recover from all the TLC she had just received.

'Helen' is doing well and is beginning to find her appetite. Although I doubt she'll be released back into the wild in time to have a spring litter of hoglets. I'm hopeful with a little help from a carer she'll be back in the wild in time to make some autumn babies.

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. 

Front leg and Back leg - The Story of Two Hoglets

I know you shouldn't have favourites but in 2011 I had a number. One being Alan the hoglet (scroll down two posts and watch his video). Another two were Front leg and Back leg, who I collected on the 17th May. As soon as I saw them I knew the odds on their survival were slim. They were just days old, ears and eyes still closed, dehydrated and cold. Once home I weighed them to discover they were just 32 and 34 grams. Previously the smallest hoglet I'd ever managed to hand rear was Fatboy who had been 57 grams. So I prepared myself (as much as you can) to lose them.

Front leg and Back leg the day they arrived

and yes that is a ten pence piece beside them!

The next day I noticed both had one leg that was slightly swollen. Hence their names, one had a swollen back leg (female) and one had a swollen front leg (male). However a little antibiotics solved that problem. So over the next few days I fitted their 3 hourly feeds around work. However I did make them last 6 hours over night. Call me selfish but I need my eyes to open when I feed something as small as they were. As the days passed their weight increased and they became more responsive. 

Just one week later.

Daily weight check

Three hourly feeds were stretched to four hourly and the mixture of goats milk and Esbilac was slowly changed to a mixture of AD Hills and goats milk, warmed of course. 

Yet another feed!

There are obviously draw backs when hand rearing, which include lack of sleep as well as being unable to go out for the day. However I'm extremely lucky and have a fantastic vet who supports our work. So when I called to ask if anyone could hoglet sit one of the nurses (Liz) jumped at the chance.

Pretending they've not been fed for hours!

As I've said our vets (A120 Medivet) are fantastic and it's typical for the surgery to grind to a halt, so everyone can hug a hoglet. Oh and take a few shots!

"They're just sooo cute!"

Weaning can take time and Front leg gained the nick name of 'syringe boy' as he really didn't want to give up being fed by the syringe. So it was a great leap forward when he started to eat (very reluctantly) from a tea spoon.

  

By the 13th June both were almost fully weaned and had progressed to using a bowl (well a Pringle lid).

"That juicy morsel is mine!"

Exactly one month later they were being taken for walks around the back garden. Here they were encouraged to explore and discover good things to eat.

Sticking together

Up until this time both had been kept in door but  it was soon time to move them into the hedgehog shed. And rather than sleeping on towels they were given hay, so they could practise making their own nest.

Getting used to making a 'nest' in the hay

By the end of June they had both reached nearly 400 grams. So they were picked up by a carer and as part of their reintroduction to the wild were housed in a hutch and run. Also to encourage them to forage they were taken out each night for a wander around the garden. 

   

Back leg: taken the day she was picked up.

By the end of July both had reached the goal weight of 600 grams and were released into the garden they had become used to. I will never know what happened to them once released. However I keep my fingers crossed Mother Nature is kind to them and they enjoy a long and happy life.

P.S.

If you'd like to support our work and you buy office supplies for the home or work then please click on this link and purchase your supplies from The Cartridge Warehouse. Each time you make a purchase we receive commission.     

Funding Matters

When someone drops a hedgehog off to us I often get asked how much the RPSCA pay us. It's amusing to watch their jaws drop when I tell them we're totally non-funded and when the hedgehog bank account (yes they have their own account) is empty then myself and our volunteers (we now have 15 carers and 2 long term fosterers) fund the work. I'm then asked how do we fund our work. Well...

We attend open days at local vets and have a stall of local fetes where we sell items donated by supporters.

I do presentations for local schools, WI groups and after school clubs such as Brownies and Cubs. We ask for a minimum donation and if I have a hoglet well enough to take with me I do. If you'd like to book a visit then visit our website for info on how to contact me (remember we only cover an area within half an hours drive of Stansted Airport).

We have collection pots in local vets selling key rings  (£1.50 each) that are kindly made and donated by a local crafts person (who happens to be a close friend). If you'd like to see some more of her lovely work then click on this link and look for the name Pippa King.

We collect used printer cartridges and postage stamps, which make us a small income. Well not that small as the printer cartridges over the last ten years has covered the cost of caring for 40 hogs. Not quite the number we average per year (around 60ish) but still not bad from 'rubbish.'

We also have:

• A volunteer who every so often cooks a meal for family/friends and asks them to give a small donation. He has a wonderful night entertaining and raises funds for us.
• A supporter who sells our set of exclusive cards - £1.00 for the set of three.

• Other supporters who pop a can or two of cat/dog food into their shopping basket. Once they have a few tins I either get a call and collect or come home to find a small pile of tins sitting on the doorstep.
• And our longest serving volunteer organises a craft and art fair once a year and in 2011 she donated a third of the proceeds to us, raising a fantastic £300.

Recently we signed up as an affiliate seller for The Toner Warehouse.

Basically if anyone follows this link then:

• Clicks on the 'join now' button
• Becomes a member
• Ensure the number 111107 is in the last box - 'reference'

Each time they make a purchase we earn commission. I must admit I was dubious, believing the items would be far more expensive than my usual supplier. However I placed an order for a set of printer cartridges and they were £7.50 cheaper. So I not only saved myself money but also earned commission for the hogs. Also the great thing is they cover most of the country, so even if someone live hundreds of mile away from us they can still support our work.

And in between all that fund raising we look after hedgehogs!