Building the perfect pond

"Make a garden pond and you'll be astonished at the wildlife you encourage - from pond skaters and water boatman to dragonflies and damselflies, frogs, toads and newts."

Alan Titchmarsh

A few days ago I dropped in on one of our lovely fosterers to check on our latest disabled hedgehog (will be blogging about him soon). Whilst I was there I was shown the pond they are in the process of creating. The amazing thing is it's not even finished and a small frog has already moved in. I was so impressed with it that I wanted to share it with you.

So here are the highlights.

Firstly they've made it fairly deep and installed a fountain (the pipe work and cables are still to be sorted, so please ignore those). Now depth is important as dragonfly larva etc. need to be able tuck themselves away at the bottom, so they can survive the cold of our winters. The fountain will help introduce air into the water and stop it becoming stagnant.

Plants have been placed in the pond (you can't see them in my pictures but they are there), which will help attract wildlife and support it should it decide to move in. A pebble beach has been created to allow hedgehogs and other visitors to take a drink (very important during the hot summer months) and easily escape should they fall in.

A shallow waterfall has been designed to allow birds to enjoy a drink and should they wish a little bath as well. Last but not least fish will not be introduced, so this will become an oasis for all manner of insects.

I'm hoping by sharing this you've been inspired to make a little room for a pond. It'll give you hours and enjoyment and will help a huge list of wildlife.

The highs and lows of hedgehog care

The last few weeks have really had their highs and lows.

Low one: 

We've received lots of calls about hedgehogs and sadly many of them were just too poorly for us to save. Our first two hogs of 2014 have sadly not won the fight. But at least someone took the time to pick them up and find help (so I suppose this counts as a high).

Low two:

Shirley on the day she arrived at Elaine's

I received an email about one of our disabled hogs, Shirley. Shirley had been found lying on her side in the middle of a playing field, close to death. Unfortunately she had also been attacked by a rook, raven or a magpie which had so badly damaged her eye that it had to be removed. Shirley had been living with one of our fab full time fosterers, Elaine. Shirley had full run of the garden which she shared with one of our other disabled hedgehogs, Vince. Sadly at the end of last week Shirley's body was discovered. We don't know why she passed but at least we can say she had a little extra time to enjoy being a hog. I'd also like to thank Elaine for taking such great care of her. Without full time fosterers like Elaine we'd not be able to do the work we do.    

High one:

Colin Woodward

We've had some fantastic news in that we've received a fabulous donation from County Councillor Colin Woodward (Bishop's Stortford, West Division). It will be used towards our running costs for the next few months. The money comes from the Locality Budget Scheme. When we applied we didn't think that being such a small organisaiton we'd receive anything. The money is a much needed boost and we have already used some of it to cover the cost of a series of lung worm treatments for one of our 2013 hoglets. Thankfully she has responded so well that she has been relocated to one of our carers. She is undergoing a 'soft' release and should be released back into the wild by the end of this month.

High two:

Helen of the A120 surgery

Our second high has really come from one of our lows. We picked up a hedgehog from the A120 surgery which we believe may have been Bubble Boy. He had been given the full treatment and we kept our fingers crossed he'd pull through, sadly he didn't make it. I called Helen (our award winning vet) to tell her the sad news. Helen being Helen asked me to take his body in so she could do an autopsy (typically she did this in her own precious time and made no charge). What she found was very interesting and she has offered to autopsy all our hedgehogs (that are suitable) over the next few months. She is hopeful she can come up with a method of screening hedgehogs that will allow us to determine much sooner if treatment is going to work or if this treatment is just delaying the inevitable. We also plan to share her findings with The British Hedgehog Preservation Society, so they can be shared with other hedgehog carers. So if you find a hedgehog that has died within the last 48 hours (at the most) and is not badly mutilated (e.g. road kill) then please help Helen with her research by contacting the A120 surgery (just outside Little Hadham) and dropping off the body. Hopefully Helen's research will help us save more hedgehogs by improving the care they receive from the moment they come into us.

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. 

Hedgehogs in March - Written by The British Hedgehog Preservation Society

Rescued hedgehog feeding of cat food

Well it has been a funny old year for the hedgehogs.  On the one hand the weather has been mild and has given many smaller hedgehogs a chance to fatten up and hibernate.  On the other hand it has been very wet, this can mean that many hedgehogs will have used wet bedding to make their nests which is not ideal.  In addition of course there has been lots of flooding and this may have had a dramatic effect on the hedgehogs living in or near those flooded areas.

If there are any mild spells at this time of year the male hedgehogs might be encouraged out of hibernation – the males seem to awake a little earlier than the females, although nothing is set in stone.  If you are tempted into the garden in warmer weather do take care when tidying or moving piles of leaves etc. especially if you know there have been hedgehogs in the garden in 2013.

Hedgehogs coming out of hibernation will be very thirsty – having not had a chance to drink for several months, and they will also be hungry and in a poor condition.  Give them a helping hand by putting out hedgehog food and water for them (click on links for a suitable hog feeder and water bowl).  Keep ponds topped up too although many will be full anyway following the rain.  If you are not sure whether there are hedgehogs visiting, rather than waste the food, you can put out dry biscuits for them (hedgehog or cat biscuits would be fine), this can be left out for some time before it needs to be thrown away, rather than the wet foods that go off quickly.

If you have a hedgehog house you could place a small piece of screwed up paper in the entrance – this will be brushed aside as the hedgehog comes out of the box so you will know it is awake.  Also if you know your box is empty you can use the paper to tell whether someone has started to use it.

If you are concerned about any hedgehog that you see contact the British Hedgehog Preservation Society on 01584 890801 (if you can weigh the hedgehog first that is always helpful).  Out of hours you will be directed to other numbers but whatever the time, with patience, you should be able to speak to a real person.  For more information about hedgehogs and how to help check out our pages at the top of this blog.  

Hedgehogs in January - written by the British Hedgehog Preservation Society

Most of the hedgehogs seen at this time of year will be unable to hibernate – there may be some regular visitors that decide to keep eating because there is a regular supply of food but these will be in the minority.  Having said that, if the weather turns mild at the end of the month some hedgehogs may wake from hibernation but judging from previous years this is unlikely.

It is always helpful to leave some food out, but in the cold weather, when it is less likely to be taken, you can put out dry cat biscuits, these will not go off so quickly and will be less wasteful.  Leave a dish of water out as well not just for the hedgehogs but for all the wildlife in your garden.

If you are tempted out to do some gardening remember that there could be hedgehogs hibernating in your garden.  An unusually large pile of leaves could well be a hibernaculum (hedgehog’s winter nest) as could any piles of vegetation, so do take care when raking or forking over any suspect areas.  If you should discover a hedgehog then pile the leaves etc. back over it and perhaps check the pile the next morning – it is likely the hedgehog will have woken properly and moved to a new nest.  Provide some fresh water and some food as it will be very thirsty and hungry; the food will also help replace some of the fat it had to burn up when rousing.

If you see any hedgehog out and about at this time of year it is best to contact the British Hedgehog Preservation Society on 01584 890801 (if you can weigh the hedgehog first that is always helpful).  Out of hours you will be directed to other numbers but whatever the time, with patience, you should be able to speak to a real person.  For more information about hedgehogs and how to help them visit The BHPS web site at www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk