Hedgehog Bottom

Walter, our cycling hedgehog was put to sleep.

The femur was shattered and the front leg was also broken. Our vet said he thought there was other internal damage as well.

Well folks, busy morning. Phone not stopped, Film company, releases, advice, idiots (what in the name Hedgehog Bottom leads them to assume we will go out to a cow that looks unwell?) etc etc.

Anyhoo, result of all this dashing around? Sully, Sheepy, Ecchy and Fatty Tearaway have all gone off to be released. 'Little' Fatty T is enormous now, just under 1kg and was raring to go make more Fatty Ts.

As soon as these guys hit the 550g mark they are out of here so we don't end up with then stuck here until May.

Good luck to all the releases and please don't come back!

Two little ones came in yesterday evening having been found in a car park sheltering in a ditch. Both of them are smothered in tiny ticks and if they hadn't come in when they did would have been in serious trouble in a few days. Taken 40 off between the two of them so far but the others are so small the lasso won't touch them.

The 4 babies we put with what we hoped was mum are putting on weight nicely so we have to assume that either she was mum or she's a very accommodating female that happened to be passing.

Two in tonight. One checked over and sent back home, marked so they can keep an eye on her.

The second with a nasty injury to the side of his face, maggots in his ear and a very swollen back foot, possibly a fracture.

Soo the chap in late last night off to the vet this morning. Returned with two more and whilst out another one came in that was found in a recycling crate.

Freezing cold, soaking wet and tummy covered in used motor oil. He's had his first bath and is a heck of a lot cleaner than he was. Will do another one later and hope the oil hasn't done too much damage.

Happy sunny Sunday morning folks. All quiet in the hospital. Good luck to Tasha who is running the Pangbourne 10k for us this morning, complete with hedgehog on her back.

For those that think hogs are cute, they are most of the time but when it comes to women or food in the autumn then they can turn into right little monsters. This footage was taken a few years back by a hedgehog nutter and friend who sadly died a couple of years ago. Thanks to Jimmy Hyland RIP.

Male just in from Brightwalton trapped in cricket netting. Must have been there for some time. Emaciated, cold and maggots everywhere.

Harv just shot off to Overton for another one and Mick shipped out to Twyford for a third one.

The male from Brightwalton, trapped in cricket netting has a nasty sore all the way across the chest and round both front legs. He is as thin as a rake, very sunken tummy, cold, wet, and covered in thousands of newly hatched maggots as well as piles of eggs waiting to hatch. If he hadn't come in today he's have been in serious trouble.

Maggots all zapped, eggs dehydrated. Managed to comb piles of the stuff off and cleaned the wounds. Popped him on a heat mat whilst doing it so he started to warm up then put him in the ICU.

Checked on him just now and he was trying to walk but only succeeding in wobbling like mad. Put his water dish next to him and gave him a tiny bit of recovery food which he is currently eating.

The little one in from Overton is an extremely lucky lad. His mother was found beheaded in a field. No, we don't know why or how, and he was picked up and taken home. He looked in very good condition on arrival apart from a few ticks so I started to remove those. Whilst combing through the spines to see if there were any more I found a suspicious lump, poked it and out came a load of pus.

Removed the crust and there is a tooth hole on his back that had become infected. Flushed, cleaned and packed with antibiotic powder.

The third was an exhausted female, taken home by Vicki so that Mick can watch her and see if she needs further treatment.

Massive thanks to the residents of Twyford who have been putting their green tokens in Waitrose Community Scheme bins.

You have raised £400 for us! I was just in the process of trying to work out how to find £500 for new overwintering hutches as well as pay vet bills, leaflet printing etc. so that will go a long way to help!

Funnily enough a lot of our recent calls have come from Twyford. Is that what you call 'getting your tokens worth'?

Much better news tonight about two hogs.

The terrified female has calmed down a lot. Instead of an injection I gave her a tablet which she happily ate, followed by a syringe of rehydration fluid to wash it down. Much less stressed procedure thank heavens. Her cage smells of Lavender and Rescue Remedy which makes a change from poo.

The boy trapped in netting has been getting massages to restore the blood supply. He's now up and walking with a very slight limp to one front leg. Fingers crossed it's looking promising.

Another one just in, adult, can't tell if it's male or female yet as it's so cold uncurling isn't an option. It was caught in a rat trap.

I understand people have to put out rat traps but there are some things everyone should be aware of which they clearly are not:

1. You can only put out traps if you have an infestation of rats. One rat is not an infestation. This is law! Don't believe me, contact English nature and ask.

2. If you do have an infestation, as soon as it's cleared you MUST remove the traps. LAW.

3. Traps, whether bait boxes or snap traps MUST be raised at least a foot off the ground. They can be put on a pile of bricks. Rats will climb up to them to eat the food, other wildlife won't. Leaving them on the ground is endangering wildlife and pets.

4. If using poisoned bait you MUST check for dead bodies and dispose of them. A dead animal is a meal for other wildlife and you are providing poisoned food to them and thus killing many more things than your rat.

All traps and bait boxes when purchased should carry this information with them, If they don't, report the company.

OK weird day or what.

Mum and babies under somebodies house floor.

Hog curled up in a blanket in the middle of a completely empty shed.

Wild hog brought in by the RSPCA, been kept as a pet, owner gone to prison.

Dog attacked juvenile on the way.

and it's not yet 6pm.

80g baby in with a large tooth hole just above his front right leg. Full of pus. Cleaned and treated but he's very tin and was so hungry he kept trying to eat fingers.

No matter how fantastic an area looks to you, if there are no hedgehogs in it already then we, and you, cannot release hogs there.

If an area is suitable the likelihood is it will already be sustaining a population of hogs and if it isn't there is a reason why it isn't. We will not send hogs out to die due to something you have missed or not noticed.

Releasing any animal into an area where it cannot possibly survive is abandonment and punishable by law so no matter how well intentioned, always do your homework first or ask a rescue for help.

Tiny little one in this afternoon, found by the side of a road with blood coming from an injury to the front paw. There's a large graze on the back so it looks like it's been dragged.

Couldn't get it to uncurl and it looks a very odd shape so I'm a bit worried about fractures however I think the reason it wouldn't uncurl was that it was so cold. After I'd warmed it a little I was able to get it slightly open to treat the foot and was horrified to see its tummy which is so sunken I suspect it's been in trouble for some time.

It only weighs 80g so we'll do what we can but I don't think this will be a good outcome.

If the little one does come round enough we'll pop it in with another 80g hoglet that arrived the other day with two nasty bite wounds and hope that the company will help.

The little one is still with us this morning. Fully awake, pulled the bandage off her foot and it has thankfully stopped bleeding now. She does move around but I'm now suspecting pelvic fracture as although she can move her back legs she won't stand. It's possible it's down to weakness and the fact her front paw is damaged but x-rays will confirm and she'll go to the vet tonight now she's stabilised. She took 2ml of formula this morning and seemed to enjoy it.

The rat trap hog is doing well, the foot has returned to normal and she can belt around the floor at high speed. I was just about to send her home when she started coughing like a loon and a faecal sample showed lungworm so she'll be here for another 2 weeks at least.

The boy trapped in cricket netting had me very worried over the weekend. He had been producing pale green frothy poo which was full of roundworm eggs. He stopped eating completely which is just what we didn't need as he's so thin already so he was supported with fluids and given worming treatments. On top of that the wounds from the constriction injuries appeared to have lost all the blood supply, skin completely white so a couple of hours were spent gently massaging the area.

Last night he drank all his fluids and ate all his food. Hopefully things are on the up.

Bad news I'm afraid.

When I went to check the little one from yesterday at lunchtime, she had gone. There was no pain, she looked like she was lying there looking at me.

As we will not now be taking her to the vet and I wasn't going to hurt her, I did my own checks and she had 3 fractures to the front leg and the pelvis was smashed. It was internal bleeding that took her.

Two more little ones in. Both under 200g and struggling badly to look after themselves in the cold and wet. Please keep your eyes peeled for them and if you find one heat is vital, please don't leave them outside to see what happens.

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Well we get days and we get days and today was a day.

First we had a juvenile that's been stuck in a garage for a week. Cold, wobbly and hungry but otherwise looking OK.

Then we got a call to a garden with two hedgehog houses both with babies in them. Rather confusing outcome in that in one house was a litter of 4 babies all similar sizes, and in the other two babies but one double the size of the other.

I'm thinking that the smaller one is part of the other litter and the larger one had just taken advantage of a warm house. The 5 littles now snuggled up together and the larger one has his own des res.

Then to cap it all, got a phone call from a lady on an island in the middle of nowhere in Scotland who had found a baby hog down a trench. Poor woman has no electric, no heat, is living in a caravan while they build a house. Takes her 45 minutes just to get to her car and no rescues withing miles, all involving a sea journey.

Had a very nice chat with a chap in Oban who rescues sealife and we came to the conclusion it was SSPCA or nothing. SO she's on hot water bottle duty until something else can be sorted.

Another one coming in from Winchester. Apparently there is a yellow powder all round her mouth.

Another one just in from Boxford. Seems to have a mouth/jaw problem.

And a juvenile male in with a rear leg fracture and an eye gone.

Good news for once! We sent two to the vets last night and they are both still with us.

A female from Boxford that was having difficulty eating and drinking with a thick clear mucous coming from her mouth looked like her tongue was swollen so she was checked over and she has ulcers everywhere. Before she went in she was given painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs as well as antibiotics and last night was eating by herself but she's drinking a lot which, along with the ulcers, could indicate kidney failure but we'll keep our fingers crossed it's not.

The boy from Reading area with a rear leg fracture and an eye gone, has had the eye socket flushed and the back leg is being splinted. Toes crossed.

Finders of the following animals please step forward, we need to get these guys out fast.

Son of Stompy
Burdock of Charvil
Fannie Tearaway

We also have a lot of babies coming up to release weight. The large litters can't all go back to the same place or we'll overpopulate so anyone who has offered to act as a release site stand by your beds and prepare your houses.

Pretty rotten day all round.

Two hogs came in late last night, one from Newbury and one from Highclere. The Highclere lady died a short while after arriving. The Newbury hog died overnight.

The boy with the eye missing and leg splinted is going downhill very fast. He's had fluids, antibiotics and painkillers but I'm not holding out a lot of hope, I think the infection from the eye had spread further than our vet thought.

One of my hand reared babies has been doing really well, looked a bit off colour last night and was dead this morning. Pretty sure it was kidney failure.

To cap all that I have a prolapsed disc and can hardly move and Harvey has an infection which is slowly turning him into an elephant. His ear has swollen to twice the size it should be and we have no idea what's caused it.

Can things get much worse?