Hedgehog First Response Unit, Monmouth including The Prickly Patch

26/08/2025

26/08/2025

Houdini escapes to the wild side!

We're absolutely thrilled that another of our rescues - Houdini (named because he escaped from his carrier!) - was released yesterday evening back to the founder's garden. As you can see, they have created a lovely spot for him where he can travel between gardens using these clever tunnels in the wire fencing.

Houdini was found out in the day, lying on his side with poor breathing. Thanks to the quick action of the finder and our volunteers, he was rescued and received wonderful care from the volunteer rehabber. Huge thanks to our volunteer Carole for supporting Houdini's release.

Enjoy the wild side Houdini 💚🦔🐾

24/08/2025

Just in case anyone is looking for a trail camera to record hedgehogs (and other wildlife) visiting your gardens overnight, these have been trialled as part of a Mammal Tracking schools project in Monmouthshire with great results. It has clear night audio and visual, uses a standard (not tiny) SD card, can run on rechargeable batteries and is fully waterproof. No cables or Wi-Fi needed.

It's currently on offer for £35.99 which is a great price, and a further discount for Prime members (down to £26.99).

With exceptional resolution, show you more vivid and detailed clearer details. Install 36pcs 850nm infrared LEDs to show terrific black and white night vision. The tighter waterproof design allows the wildlife camera to work in any tough weather. 2” LCD screen and the inte...

22/08/2025

Those of you following our posts may remember this little lady named 'Dinky' who was found out in the day in a ditch near Watery Lane in Monmouth about a month ago. We're absolutely thrilled to say that thanks to the dedicated treatment and care from a rehabilitation volunteer, little Dinky has blossomed and was returned to the wild this week.

It's important that wherever possible hedgehogs are returned to familiar habitat so rest assured Dinky is back roaming gardens in the Watery Lane area, hopefully avoiding any more ditches! Enjoy your time on the wild side Dinky 💚🦔🐾🐾🐾

17/08/2025

We’ve had a super busy morning at the Monmouthshire Show! Come and say hello to our volunteers and learn what you can do to help our prickly friends. We are also running a Grand Raffle where you could win a 5* hedgehog house, hedgehog food, bowl, and highway sign 💚🦔🐾

16/08/2025

This little one weighed just 62g and was found out on a driveway this morning. Huge thanks to the finder who responded so quickly and got in touch with us. It's now receiving specialist care with a volunteer rehab and we're keeping everything crossed for a good recovery.

We've had a lot of calls this last week, and sadly some have just come in too late - as soon as a 🦔is seen out in the day, it really is an emergency and in need of urgent care. Please don't delay or leave it for a day or so. Carefully pick it up using gloves, pop in a high sided box with a water dish only, and call us or your nearest rescue. Speed is crucial at this point.

Just a quick reminder also that this hot, dry weather is showing no signs of disappearing so those shallow bowls of water will be an absolute lifeline for garden wildlife. Please just remember to top-up again early evening for when our prickly friends emerge - they may well be seen a little earlier than usual at the moment and will be immediately looking for water on waking. Thank you from all the team at FRU 🦔🐾💚

16/08/2025

We’re all set up for the Monmouthshire Show! tomorrow! Pop along and say hello to our wonderful volunteers, learn about the simple things you can do to help 🦔 survive and thrive, and enter our Grand Raffle where you could win an amazing double entry hedgehog house, hedgehog food, a highway sign, and feeding dish 🦔🐾🦔🐾

11/08/2025

Delighted to say we will be at the Monmouthshire Show this coming Sunday 17th August in the shopping marquee talking all things hedgehogs along with free leaflets, garden machinery stickers and even a quick quiz!

Do pop along and say hello to our volunteers if you're coming to the show - weather looks fine and sunny, and we have an amazing raffle prize up for grabs. All funds raised will support hedgehog rescues 💚🦔🐾

Monmouthshire Show is a one day agricultural show held in the heart of the stunning Wye Valley. With Main Ring entertainment, family activities, educational opportunities and shopping galore, it is a great day out for everyone!

09/08/2025

🦔🦔 We have exciting news to share! 🦔🦔

Following a successful application for the Welsh Government’s Sustainable Development Fund (SDF) in the Wye Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) we are delighted to announce our plans for a new wild hedgehog volunteer rehabilitation centre – The Prickly Patch - opening late Autumn ‘25 in the Monmouth area.

This will be established as an extension to the Volunteer First Response Unit (FRU) which will continue to be the main point for calls in the area. Whilst ‘The Prickly Patch’ won’t be open directly to the public, referrals will be received via the FRU once the rehab centre is up and running.

There are lots of ways to get involved and support our new centre. This could include your time helping to clean out cages once we’re up and running, promoting our work, or sponsoring a hedgehog hutch. If you would like to make a pledge to support ‘The Prickly Patch’ please fill out the online form at >> https://forms.cloud.microsoft/r/eGuGgD9hwr

At the moment, we are looking for a Volunteer Social Media person to support us with consistent promotion and updates as work on our centre progresses. If you or someone you know is able to help with this, please get in touch via the online link.

We are extremely grateful to Wye Valley National Landscape for their amazing support in helping us reach this stage, and to Jewson (STARK Building Materials UK) for commercial sponsorship supporting the infrastructure of this project. We look forward to developing these partnerships further to ensure a wild and happy future for hedgehogs within the Wye Valley.

We will keep you updated with news about progress on this page 🦔🐾🦔🐾

02/08/2025

What a busy week we've had here at the FRU... from hedgehogs stuck in fences (it can happen!) to little ones found out on their own in need of urgent care, through to this little fella who has been named Houdini as he escaped from the temporary carrier he was in! Sadly not all our rescued hedgehogs survive, but the one trapped in fences has now been returned to the garden with a few adjustments made, and little Houdini is doing well so far thanks to the wonderful care and treatment from volunteer rehabbers 💚🦔🐾

Thank you to everyone who notices when a hedgehog is in need and calls us. Your quick actions really can make the difference as to whether they survive or not. If you're unsure whether a hedgehog needs help, please do call us anyway - better to find out it doesn't need help than leave it struggling. The general rule is 'a hedgehog out in the day is not okay'. The only exception to this would be one 'moving with purpose' keeping close to the hedges/sides.

16/07/2025

Call in this afternoon for this little one found in a ditch in Watery Lane, Monmouth. Our volunteer was quick to get down there and with a little assistance was able to rescue it. Now on a heat pad warming up and on its way to specialist care. Thanks so much to the person who called this in - in most cases, a hedgehog out in the day needs urgent help - we're keeping everything crossed we have reached it in time and will do our best to update when we can.

14/07/2025

Happy News Story: This gorgeous boy was rescued by us six weeks ago after a nest was disturbed, leaving him on his own with a sibling already deceased and no sign of Mum. We didn't hold out much hope, but as you can see, getting him the right support (huge thanks to the rehabber who took him in and provided such dedicated care) as quickly as possible has made all the difference! He was released yesterday evening in the garden of one of our volunteers and is now running free and wild 🦔🐾💚