Hedgehog Bottom

HOGLET UPDATE
Lily has been seen in the feeder every night since her release on Sunday.

Huff appears to be still living in the large hedgehog house and making full use of the room service!
The dish of kitten biscuits just inside the entrance was refilled last night and all that is left this morning is a layer of crumbs.

We are getting more and more animals stuck in netting and it can be a killer if the animal isn't found quickly.

If you have football net for children please put them away or put them on something so animals can't get trapped overnight.

If you have garden netting either leave the bottom a foot off the ground or peg it down so the net is tight.

Cricket clubs are proving the problem this year. If you know or are associated with one please clip or tie the netting up out of the way when the match is finished.

Elderly male in this evening in a terrible state. He has either been burned underneath or walked through something corrosive. Maggots everywhere. Dozens of small ticks all with males attached which I have never seen before. I'm thinking the kindest thing for him is to get him to the vet tomorrow to PTS. For now he's medicated, maggot free and on a warm pad asleep.

Geldof, the female that was caught in a rat trap, has gone out to the hutches today and will be released this weekend.

The litter of 6 babies look large enough to release but I've spent over an hour this afternoon trying to catch the little beggars to weigh them, boy they're fast.

The old fella that arrived last night in an awful state is looking a lot better today after I applied all my vast medical knowledge and, in desperation, shoved him under the hot tap for several minutes then sprayed him with copious amounts of Vetericyn. His skin is no longer red raw, has returned to a normal colour and his poor little penis is normal size. He will still be off to the vet tonight for assessment as he has no claws on his front feet so can't dig for food, and given his age, any length of time in captivity may well be his last. Stress can be a big factor so we'll see what the verdict is later.

I have conclusive proof now that my brain is fried. We had a talk to do at Mortimer Village Hall on Tuesday and we sat outside Midgham Village Hall for half an hour whilst trying to work out why there was nobody else there.

Today I had to order new leaflets as almost all of our stock went at the last show we did. Found a printer in Scotland who would do 1000 for us at a really good price, selected all the options, submitted the order, paid and then had to phone them in a hurry as the option I had chosen was one third of the size we need. Sheesh.

Wonders will never cease. Just had a call from our vet, the elderly male in the other day that I ended up shoving under the tap is coming back. His skin has healed up. All the vet could find was some pustules which he has flushed out and the old chap is eating happily. This of course now begs the question what do we do with him.

Two more in today. One found by a nice chap over in Newbury by the A34. She's very thin, very dehydrated, pumping out disgusting stuff and full of worms.

The second a young one attacked by a Staffie (yes the owner confirmed it was) that had ripped a huge chunk out of her back, dislocated both back legs so badly they can't be put back in and having been left in the garden to see if she would walk off, covered in millions of fly eggs which thankfully hadn't hatched. She was put to sleep immediately she reached our vet.

If you injure a hedgehog, your dog injures a hedgehog, or you find one lying around, please don't leave it there to see what will happen. What will happen is it will lie there slowly dying and being eaten alive by maggots. Pick it up, put it in a secure container and get it to a vet or rescue.

Having arrived home it occurred to me that the hogs smell really bad today, in fact not just bad, awful. The smell seemed to be all over the house and I was beginning to wonder what the heck was going on when the penny dropped.

The farmer over the back is spraying the fields with silage. Pleurk.

Just had a call from a lady in Basingstoke who found two abandoned hoglets. Caught one and took it to her vet who put it to sleep as it had a runny nose! She's now caught the second and it's coming here.

If you find a hog that's badly injured then by all means take it to a vet but otherwise always try to get it into a rescue where it has a chance.

And....

another dog attack coming in. Third one today.

Shattered.

They've been coming in thick and fast today. From babies to adults, covered in fly strike, some with ticks. We're almost full. Going to start shipping some out to foster, others hopefully to release before the cold weather as we're almost full.

And another one has just arrived.

Did I mention we're almost full?

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This little one came in earlier. Dog attack that was put under a hedge to see if it would go away, it didn't. In the meantime it was attacked by flies. Eyes, ears, mouth, anus, full of newly hatched maggots.

Took over an hour to get the little lad warmed up, cleaned up and medicated. He just died.

This week's tally so far. 4 released, 1 put to sleep, 3 died shortly after arriving, 11 in and being medicated, 2 off to the vet suspected RTA and hip fractures.

Everything coming in covered in fly strike apart from one little one that's just arrived and clean as a whistle. RSPCA just delivered another one with maggots everywhere.

Massive thanks to the local RSPCA for attending a call to a hog stuck in a wrought iron gate in Maidenhead. They were there within 15 minutes and released the animal which is now being checked for injuries.

Two in today. A juvenile found being attacked by magpies. Have a feeling they may have been trying to get the ticks the little one was covered in.

The second is a large female in a bad way. Pretty sure it's an RTA. She's very cold and in shock. Treated and on heat.

The female in last night was foaming at the mouth, shaking and thrashing. I had no hope whatsoever that she would last the night but treated her, put her on heat and kept my fingers crossed.

This morning she was still with us, her breathing has improved a little although it's still bad, she's no longer frothing just dribbling, the shaking has stopped and instead of lying flat out and thrashing she's lying normally.

It could still be a bad outcome but there is hope for her.

Update on the poisoned female.

Her breathing is almost normal although there is a slight whistle. Her eyes are bright but she still sleeps much of the time. Today whilst giving her injections I put a few tiny biscuits in front of her nose and she started to take an interest. Didn't eat any but the nose was going and she gave them a good sniff.

Last night we took in a little boy in a bit of a state. He was very flat, skin too big for him, very hungry and anaemic. He couldn't walk just swam across the floor, it wasn't looking good. Removed a few ticks, medicated and gave him a dose of B12 then fed him some recovery food and put him on heat.

This morning, put him down to check his walking and he shot off like a rocket and vanished down the side of the cages.

Cleaning out last night I was getting very worried about the poisoned female. Could hear some awful noises coming from her cage so peered in expecting to find her on her back again but no, she had her nose in a dish of recovery food and was busily polishing off every last morsel.

Love it when a plan comes together.

Two in tonight, one little one from Whitchurch that Harv went charging off to get and then, on returning, found an even smaller one sitting in the middle of the food bowl in our garden waiting for some dinner.

Four more hogs out to the hutches and hopefully release before the weather closes in.

Lost a little one that came in with severe lungworm a couple of days back. This is another case of people hanging on to them because they are cute then bringing them in because they stopped eating altogether.

If you are going to pick these animals up and try to do it yourself please ring for advice first. You need to weigh them every day to monitor progress and act the instant there is a consistent weight loss.

We can do faecal sampling to detect issues before they become a major problem. Unless you have a microscope and a good idea of what you're looking for then the hog will suffer and possibly die.

I get a lot of calls from people who took a hog in previously and it was fine, released in the spring but it's often beginners luck and the second one doesn't make it.

All rescues, well most of them, will be happy to talk you through what needs to be done but it is a big committment and you must follow what they tell you.

This page might help but it is no substitute for a rescue being able to see the hog as we will spot things you won't.

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Little Ralph has left and gone home to be overwintered by his finder. The little lad with the chewed foot is back at the vet, not looking good.

3 hogs with ringworm, oh joy.

The rest being fed in the hope they might gain sufficient weight to be released before the cold stuff. Chances slim and none.

We are getting a lot of requests to foster which is great but they are often from huge distances. We really appreciate the offer but we cannot send hogs that far as if anything goes wrong we need them back fast.

Always check our Find a rescue page on the web site to see if there is somewhere more local who might appreciate the help.

Whilst on the subject of the web site and applications. The 'Book a talk' form asks for 3 dates as we often have other things booked. Picking the same date 3 times is really not helpful and pretty much guarantees we'll have to say no.

Warning of prickly prospects for baby hedgehogs

The owner of a Berkshire wildlife refuge has warned of the dangers faced by baby hedgehogs over the coming winter.

Gill Lucraft, of the Hedgehog Bottom Rescue Centre in Thatcham, said the hot summer and mild autumn had led to litters of hedgehogs being born later than usual and consequently they do not have enough body fat to survive hibernation.

She is currently caring for 87 sick or injured hedgehogs.

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Phone not stopped today. After the broadcast yesterday where I said hogs shouldn't be out in the day, people have finally woken up to the fact that a hedgehog in the middle of the lawn for two days, even in the pouring rain, is probably not right.

Large male in this morning, completely collapsed, hypothermic and I suspect has eaten rat poison.

Completely nuts bonkers morning. This should give you an idea of what it can get like.

Got a very early call for a hog in Farnborough. The finder said he'd been calling his local rescue for the past 36 hours and not had any answer or call back so I referred him to two other places where he might have more luck.

Then a call for a young hog found with its front leg stuck in a fence. The leg sounded broken but luckily the finder was just up the road from our vet so sent straight there.

Then two of our regulars, Pete & Vicky, rang with a juvenile. On arrival I picked it up to check it and its face is missing. There was a large lump of mud smeared where the face should be, the nose had gone and I could smell infection. The little lump had been eating though so it shows how hard they try to carry on. We did get a photo but I won't be posting it on here.

Finders and Harv shot straight to our vet with it along with the blind female from yesterday whose tongue has reduced in size overnight and she had managed to eat some prescription food.

No sooner had they left than another call came in for a baby hog. Apparently it was the third of a litter. The other two have been taken in by a carer in Newbury I have never heard of who is now full so this one needs to come here. Luckily the lady lived in the same road as our vet so I told her to get there fast so she could meet up with Harv, Pete & Vicky so the hog can come back with them.

All before 11am.

Anyone else want to run a rescue?

The little one with the trapped leg is back here. It's not broken but she's having trouble with it so suspect a sprain.

Another little one in that seems OK

The blind female has a large abscess which has caused an inner ear infection and is probably also the cause of the swollen tongue and possibly the blindness. She will be coming back tomorrow and we'll treat her for 10 days to see if we can clear the problem.

Three little ones in this weekend. Just taken a little girl in 156g that hasn't stopped eating since she arrived. She was being played with by dogs so doesn't trust anything at the moment except food. Her name is Daffodil as she came from Wordsworth.

More little ones in today, lowest weight arrival 124g. This one should be a lot bigger though, she's all skin and bone. Suspecting a heavy worm load and covered in ticks.

We're now doubling up in cages as we're fast running out of room despite Joy and Ian taking 5 at the weekend.