West Midlands Hedgehog Rescue

They don’t get any younger than this which came in yesterday afternoon after being found on his own on the side of a canal. He weighed just 20 grams and the chance of saving him was almost nil. In situations like this I try to get some food down them, keep them warm and let them die in peace but even so, I couldn’t resist keep giving him a sip of RC milk a couple of times, fully expecting him to have died in the night, but he didn’t. With both the phones ringing about other hedgehogs in trouble, I hurriedly mixed some more fresh milk up and went on feeding him. I was in a mess, I knew I couldn’t possibly keep feeding this tiny mite and deal with all the other hedgehogs that would be coming in so I rang my friend and vet nurse Laura, who is a genius at hand feeding orphaned hoglets. This was the last time I fed this teeny, (Laura took the video) before she very willingly took him home and into her care. We both know that his chances of survival at this weight are not good, but if anyone can save him, Laura will. Thank you Laura ###

It’s just after 10pm and I thought it would be nice for you to see how little Lucky is getting on. (The name Lucky got the most votes from you) Remember he was found along with his 2 siblings when they were being attacked by crows and magpies? The other 2 were so badly injured that they had to be put to sleep but tiny Lucky fought a hard battle, it was touch and go for a few days but he won through in the end and my hours without sleep were worth it. I’m afraid I had to stop videoing abruptly because he was just about to fall over the edge of the settee.

This is one of those bittersweet stories folks. Someone found this little boy and his sisters out in the day covered in fly eggs and worse still their little faces and backs had been pecked at by the birds and they were covered in fly eggs. The other twos faces and mouths were so badly damaged that they couldn’t take the milk from the syringe ( not cows milk) and it broke my heart to hear them keep crying for their mum to feed them hour after hour. I had to have a go with this one even though he had injuries as well but the other 2 had to be put to sleep, I won’t ever forget that particular journey to the vets, it was very upsetting I can tell you. Anyway it’s now 6 days since I took this only one of the litter, feeding him every 2 hours throughout the day and night for a couple of nights, now he is going 3 hours through the night and still 2 hours during the day. I think, well, I hope that he is going to make it now because his eyes are just opening, a good sign. Now for a name. Someone suggested Lucky, what do you think folks?

I think we can conclude the updates on Gertie now because by the look of her I reckon she is ready to be released into a safe, secure garden once I have had her sight checked at the vets. Go back to that video of when she first came to me to see how she has improved. Well done Gertie. (You have decided that’s her name, haven’t you folks?)

Just look at the state of this poor little girl that came in today, she was in such a bad way that I really felt that she was near to death. She was dirty (still is) her spines were stuck together with mud, (still are) and she was totally exhausted, thin and absolutely plastered with fleas and mites and to top it all she is blind. The idea was to kill the fleas and mites, get her warm and let her die in peace, but just as I was leaving she dragged herself to the water and started to drink as you can see so as I was due to go to my vets I left her, then when I came back I put some food in her hutch then carried her to it and look what happened. I’ve a feeling this is one of those miracle hedgehogs, keep your fingers crossed for her folks.

Looking at this I feel there is hope. I haven’t had time to really examine her yet, also I like to let new comers calm down and rest before I start giving them a thorough examination, I find it’s less stressful to them.

A huge, huge thank you goes to Paul who has just rushed over (8-15pm) to take these 3 teeny baby hoglets to my friends at Cuan for me. Years ago I used to hand feed these little ones, at one time I had 17 of them, but I simply can’t do the 2 hourly feeds anymore which is what these will need, 24 hours of the day. There aren’t many people who would give up their evening to do the three quarters of an hours journey there then the same back to help me and the hedgehogs, so I’m very grateful to Paul and my other trustworthy friends who will do just that.

This is blind Rosie in her nest under the rose tree. She seems to think that because her back half is covered up in her nest, no one can see her.

Here is blind Rosie. She seemed to be having a bit of trouble getting down off her bank so I put this car ramp for her and as you can see, she soon got the knack of it. Notice also how that little nose is going all the time, smelling the air. I had to take her to David, the vet at Straitons, today because I was a bit worried about her one blind eye. Dave confirmed that she did in fact have a small abscess in the eye socket, (there is only an empty socket, no eyeball) so he told me to give her antibiotics and hold warm compresses on the eye in the hope that the abscess will burst. She is such a trusting little thing because she actually lay there and let me do it. Anyway, as you can see, it isn’t bothering her too much. Brave girl.

Just found that Strimmer injury hedgehog had died in the night. Im very upset. Another result of man’s thoughtlessness.

As I said, it’s all kicking off now and it will be non stop till well into November. These hoglets will need feeding every 2 hours by hand with a syringe and they won’t be the last because it’s Baby Season ❤️ You can’t really gauge the size of these hoglets on here but they are not much longer than a tube of lipstick. Compare them with the size of the print on the newspaper that’s underneath them.

As I said, “Here we go”. Yet another strimmer injury.

Before I start ranting on, as I do on the same subject every year, of the importance of leaving a shallow dish of water out for the hedgehogs and other wild life of course, can I ask folks who have brought a hedgehog to me and want to know how it is getting on, to please put the date that they brought it to me and the post code of where it was found. It seems that every day someone sends me a text message saying, “ How is the hedgehog I brought to you last week?” (Or whenever) No name, no date and no post code, just a phone number. It really is frustrating as I then have to phone the number, or text the person who has sent the enquiry, to ask for more details and quite often all I get back is the name of the person who sent the message, then I have to text back yet again and ask for the other details. All of this is not only time consuming but frustrating. To some of you this may seem a minor inconvenience but when you are run off your feet with little time to even eat, it can just add to the workload. So, if you wish to know how the hoggie is that you brought to me, state the exact date that you brought it in, and the post code where it was found. RIGHT!!! Back to the beginning. Pleeese keep fresh water out for our precious hedgehogs because water is a life saver. This is dear Pinky by the way, she lives in my garden as she had to have one of her back legs amputated, she is doing really well.

I’ve just heard that yet another hedgehog rescue has packed in, that’s 15 of them in my area in the last 2 years, more hedgehogs for me to take in so I’m going to need even more help from you, my followers. Are you still with me folks?

Had an awful shock today. Remember tiny, tiny little Precious, the hoglet found with her dead siblings strewn over a woman’s garden in the boiling heat last year. They were so young that their eyes weren’t even open. They were covered in fly eggs and maggots and had wounds on them caused by the magpies trying to eat them. I took them all home to give them a decent burial but on the way, one of them moved so the soon as I got home I put her on a heat mat and started dribbling the special milk into her mouth every hour or so all through the night. To cut a long story short, the little miracle survived and turned out to be a real character. (As seen here) I called her Precious and when she was heavy enough I put her into the garden, and capable hands of badger expert and friend Sandra, where she actually stayed, even hibernating In Sandra’s garden. We are now up to the present, today, and I received a message this morning that there was blood on some newspaper near were Precious had her house. I was very worried but drove to Sandra’s where she showed me a significant amount of blood which I diagnosed as an infection. Sensibly, Sandra had picked Precious up and put her in a box on a hot water bottle but the hedgehog was in a bad way, weak and very thin. Both myself, Sandra and her partner were upset because Precious was so special, she had overcome an awful death and was now a part of Sandra’s garden. After a few minutes I picked Precious up to put her in my carrier but her head dropped back and she died. Sandra and I were in bits as she called to her partner, Jim, “Oh Jim, she has died!!”. Then I looked, IT WAS A MALE!!! IT WASNT PRECIOUS!!! I can’t tell you how we felt, yes, I know that it is terribly sad that the male hedgehog had died but as I said to Sandra, “At least I haven’t got to go home and have a good cry”. How our emotions can be changed in a split second, they certainly did just that today. Phew, that was close Precious!!!

Hello everyone. There is so much talk about strimmers at the moment that one of my followers, Helen Tracey, has asked me to dive in and try and press a point on these vile pieces of garden machinery. In the space of 7 days I have had to rush 2 seriously injured hedgehogs to my vets, Straitons, to be put to sleep because of the horrendous wounds inflicted by these machines. I was very tempted to post a photograph of one of them on this site but came to the conclusion that it would be far too upsetting to anyone viewing it. What I have done instead is post this repeat video. Please keep watching and you will see, along with the hundreds of maggots, the wound which was no doubt inflicted by a strimmer. This must be the slow painful death that hundreds of hedgehogs every year have to endure because they have been sliced by one of these garden aids. Tell me friends, what can we do to prevent this new enemy from killing our beloved hoggies, as if they haven’t got enough against them already. I’m doing my best to make the public aware when I give my talks, there are warning signs on some of these gadgets, other rescues are trying to warn house holders and gardeners alike to look out for wildlife before you strim, what else do you suggest folks because Im at a loss. 🦔.

REMEMBER THE OLD BOY WHO CAME TO ME MONTHS AGO, he was starving and had a heavy lungworm burden? After he was better I knew that because he was so old, he wouldn’t survive the winter if I let him out so he stayed here with me. Then my biker friends named him Frankie? Well, the excellent news is that my old friend Martin took him to release in his neighbours garden last night where he will be so spoilt, so well looked after, and most importantly, he won’t be able to escape because the garden in question is completely hedgehog proof. I consider this to be a very happy conclusion because instead of dying slowly in the cold and wet, he is now going to end his days in peace, wanting for nothing. He couldn’t ask for more, could he? 🦔

To change the subject to a more pleasant one, do you remember Precious, the tiny hoglet that was found amongst her dead siblings on a lawn in the boiling heat last summer? She was in an awful state, she had wounds that had been inflicted by the magpies and was covered in maggots and flies eggs. She was so young, her eyes weren’t even open yet. I thought that she was dead but I worked on her for hours and the tough little madam survived and when she was heavy enough she was released into my friend Sandra’s very pretty cottage garden and stayed there for the rest of the year being fed and watered. Sandra kept me updated on Precious until the text messages stopped when the wonderful little hedgehog wasn’t seen anymore. Sandra and I stopped worrying as you simply can’t keep tabs on a wild animal, we didn’t know if Precious had toddled off to pastures new or heaven forbid come to an untimely end. I couldn’t stop thinking about her because she was so, you know, precious, and I texted Sandra a couple of days ago to ask if she had seen her, Sandra said that she hadn’t but would put food out in Precious’s special feeding station and see if the food disappeared. Well, what a wonderful surprise because Sandra got in touch with me this morning to say that she had seen Precious and that she was looking well. I’m over the moon and so is Sandra. The hope now is that our special little hog will stay with Sandra and maybe even have babies of her own. Another success story. Thank you Sandra xx

Here’s the old boy who came to me a few weeks ago. He is still eating a tin of cat food a day and would eat more if I let him. He had a heavy burden of worms and really was a pathetic looking boy but look at his bright shiny eyes now. I think it’s about time we named him, any ideas?

You are are all thinking, “She has gone quiet”, far from it, there are still hedgehogs coming in but at a much, much slower pace as most of them are still hibernating. I’ve still got the ones that I’ve overwintered and also a steady flow of newcomers such as one that came in last week that wonderful Chris pulled out of a household drain, and one that was trapped in a fence. Both of these worryingly didn’t eat for a couple of days but after a bit of TLC decided that life was good and started eating as if there was no tomorrow. This video of me feeding an orphaned hoglet reminded me that my few weeks of rest hedgehog wise will very soon be coming to an end as hedgehog season starts again full circle. I’m ready. Joan.