Jersey Hedgehog Preservation Group

ADMISSIONS FOR THE LAST QUARTER:

JANUARY
ADMISSIONS 14 DEATHS 7 RELEASES 55
FEBRUARY
ADMISSIONS 6 DEATHS 2 RELEASES 11
MARCH
ADMISSIONS 8 DEATHS 3 RELEASES 52

As you can see it has been a very busy and successful winter. Most of the over-wintering hogs have been released now. We had to wait for spells of dreadful weather to pass in order to do this. We are delighted to report than no hogs died during their hibernation this year, we do usually lose a couple each winter while they are asleep.

The first injury of the year was as a result of the bad weather, he was found trapped under a fallen fence with a badly broken leg which was amputated immediately by the vets at New Era and he was collected from the hospital on the following morning and has made a good recovery. He will stay in an enclosed garden. The second came only 3 days later when a hog got itself inside a rat trap. The front leg was very badly damaged and was amputated.

It has been the busiest winter on record, the hedgehogs have been very healthy and most have already been released back into the wild as you will see from the figures above. The amount of work involved in caring for this large number of hogs has made us realise that we are going to have to reduce our workload, because we cannot go on working at this pace. So Dru has decided that she will only be available between the hours of 8am and 8pm to answer the phone or take in hedgehogs. If you find an injured hog after 8pm in the evening, please ring New Era vets on 07797 711585 and take it to them. You will not be charged for their services. For most of the year uninjured hedgehogs seen after dark should be left to go about their business, the only exceptions are very small autumn juveniles from November onwards. These should be kept in a box overnight in a warm room with bedding and food and water and brought to Dru in the morning.

pleased there is more released

First head injury of the year in today. Must be from the clearing up of fallen trees from the snow?? it can't be a strimmer yet surely? Also one was put to sleep who had a completely rotten mouth, found outside the Crematorium in the road, we don't know what happened to him. Have been releasing like mad all over the island! Lovely to see them go, especially ones who were so small when they came in and had fly eggs round their bums and things like that! and now they are stonking great big hogs and back in the wild!

First rescue of the year from a swimming pool by one of our members at 3am! Unfortunately the hog didn't budge from the nice hiding place under the bushes where she was put and was still in the same place this morning, so the finder brought her in to us, she seems to have a chest infection which may not be caused by the chlorine in the pool, as she can't have been in there for very many hours, have to wait and see if the meds work!

PS This photo is a con, its not the hedgehog rescued from the pool in case you were wondering!!!

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Forgot to say, senility really is kicking in! - to prevent hogs falling into pools or ponds, please provide escape ramps made from planks of rough wood, stones, wire netting or firm plastic mesh (NOT SOFT NYLON NETTING AS THEY GET STUCK IN THIS!). You can weight the mesh down on the edge of the pool with a heavy plant pot or brick.

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Please DO take care when doing the branchage, we have had 3 hogs put to sleep in the last few days, 2 had nasty head wounds and the one today had a slashed nose. if you have to cut long grass, please cut to knee height first, check for nesting hogs, and then cut lower if you need to. In the summer hogs don't always make proper nests like they do in winter, they simply lie up in the long grass for the day.

this picture was taken by Dr Pat Morris and is not of a strimmer injury, this hog had his front leg amputated earlier in the year having been caught in a rat trap.



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More branchage carnage in the last few days. Another hog put to sleep last night, nose cut to the bone and bum sliced near anus, all manky and smelly. The hog in the picture is tribute to Hugh's needlework skills! You may be able to see that his head has been sewn up. The short spines on his bottom do not conceal a deep wound, just a grazed area which is scabbed over. In addition to this he has cuts on his nose and upper lip which have also been sewn up, but he wasn't prepared to show that bit off to you!
You can see from this photo how strimmers get hogs at both ends head and tail - as they whip past, happens all the time......

Latest hedgehog figures for last quarter:
Admissions April 16 May 33 June 33
Deaths April 8 May 13 June 14
Releases April 44 May 17 June 16

More hogs than usual have returned this quarter, 21 from April - June, some were identified by their nail varnish marks and the location where they were found, as they did not have ear tags. 19 were from this winter and had obviously had a hard time finding food in the spring when the weather was so cold. 7 have been re-released after a short time in care, 1 has been put to sleep, 3 died on their return and 8 are still in care. One old friend was born in 2010 and was found by Dru's neighbour, wet through, he has a chronic bad chest and was found by the food bowl last summer under the shed fat and noisy and left to get on with eating! He has been released again this year. The other is a mature girl from 2011, she was found in a pool skimmer, she was a bit chesty, and was released again after a short course of treatment. One of last autumn's babies was found quite a long way from her release garden covered in cement dust in a builders' trench. She was a good weight, and was released after a short course of treatment.

Pools and ponds: If you have a pool or pond make sure that any hog which falls in can get out again, they are good swimmers and climbers, but need an escape ramp made out of wire netting, firm plastic mesh or rough wood. Put a dish of water in another part of the garden and the hogs may drink from this without bothering with the swimming pool! This quarter one hog has been rescued from a swimming pool and one from a pool cover, and one from a skimmer at the side of a pool.

Dogs and hogs - mange and ringworm: If you have a dog who picks up hedgehogs, please be aware that even if he does not hurt the hogs, he may be at risk of catching mange mites or ringworm. This year, for the first time, we have had a couple of cases of both these conditions (simultaneously). So please keep your dog on a lead at night if you have hedgehogs visiting your garden. If you find a hedgehog with stuff which looks like lumps of dried mud sticking to its fur, please put on some gloves or use an old towel and put it in a box and phone us so we can treat it for mange mites. If you dog has touched an affected hedgehog, please ask your vet for advice about precautionary mite treatment. Unfortunately ringworm is not visible to the naked eye, but has to be cultured in a lab, so we only know 2 weeks later that the hog has this fungal infection, which is also quite treatable.

More news available on our website's news page:
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First live youngster of the year, with her Mum, baby was found down a drain full of dirty water yesterday morning, and Mum had not run off anywhere, we are hoping that this means that this is her only remaining baby, she is big for her age 174g at between 3-4 weeks old. She has some teeth through and I think Mum is trying to wean her from the amount of squeaking going on! She has licked some glop for herself. Mum ate well overnight.

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With this very hot weather PLEASE remember to put out bowls of water on the ground for any hedgehogs which may come to your garden. If you can also put out dog or cat food at dusk, that will help them a lot as when it's dry their natural food is harder to find.
Thanks a lot

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Yesterday got a young hog from Maufant, he has some teeth already, and has been licking glop for himself overnight and eating small biscuits and mynah bird food, so hope he will be all right, he was found in the middle of a road, no sign of other siblings or Mum anywhere....

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This baby was found on his own by a log pile, he may have fallen out of the nest on the cotil above, very steep and overgrown. He was desperate to be helped to wee and very hungry, so it was the right decision to take him into care and not wait for Mum to come and find him. I have put him next to a small matchbox (not big household box of matches!) so you get an idea of how small he is, he weighs 64g. He seems very proud of his willy too!!

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This little hog came in yesterday evening, found on the railway walk next to her dead mother, no other babies around. She only weighed 61g last night, but 82g this morning! She is tiny for her age..she has all her teeth and a very pointy face like a mature hog so must be 5 + weeks old at a weight smaller than the one in the last photo at 64g, who is only 2 weeks old - his eyes opened this morning so I can age him accurately! so that proves how runty this little one is. She is eating liquidised cat food for herself.

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This is the same hoglet from the railway walk next to a matchbox which has become my size marker!!! so you can see just how small she is! This is just after she had had her supper!

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Just collected a really dehydrated hog from Victoria Village, here she is drinking her first drink of water. So PLEASE remember to put out dishes of water out on the ground each evening at dusk, especially while the weather is so very dry. She has also been strimmed on her head recently, but the skin does not look cut, just her spines.

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Been to pick up this little hog, 103g she was found in the road by St George's School. The spines on her back have been recently cut by some sort of blade. She is a very lucky hoglet as her skin is not cut. Whatever happened, happened recently as the cut ends of her spines are still white and clean. This may be the reason she is separated from her mother and siblings......we can only guess. As you can see she is already licking glop (liquidised cat food and baby rusk) for herself.

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Brother and sister from Le Feugerel at La Moye, both came into a garden guarded by a Yorkie who alerted her owner! They are very small hogs, 126 and 118g, so even a Yorkie could inflict serious damage being a terrier! The brother was found yesterday and kept on yelling, even when he had been helped to have a wee and been fed, so now I have got his sister as well I am hoping he will shut up! So far so good, but he still needs to be toiletted even though he should be doing it himself by his age!

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A little girl from Pontac has now been reunited with her brother who had fly eggs round his eyes, but is fine now, they like to snuggle up together and today have been rampaging around so I have had to put them in a solid sided pen, rather than a hutch with a mesh door and this has calmed them down! Another boy from the same area, but found in a garden a little way away is being kept on his own as he had hatched maggots up his anus and penis sheath and fly eggs all over in his fur. He was found yesterday in the sun, but the people who found him only phoned me today. If you do find a hedgehog out in daylight, please phone at once for help or advice on 734340.

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Here is a picture of the fly eggs round the eye, not a very good one I'm afraid! Hard to do one handed!

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A 10 day old babe was found in a stable in St Saviours and taken to the Animals' Shelter this morning. She had not been with Mum for some time as her bladder was full to bursting! She is feeding and peeing well now - 3 hourly till her eyes open!
I know she must be at least 10 days old because she can roll up - sort of - maybe not so sure what to do with her back legs yet! and as her eyes are still shut she is less than 14 days.

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2 new hoglets in from La Haule. A few days ago I was called to a dead female on the road quite near to the garden where the babes were found, so this may have been their Mum. They are eating for themselves and getting covered in everything!

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Babe I got on 20th July still has not got her eyes open! She is doing well, here is a pic of her waggling her legs in the air and showing the world all she's got!

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Got a call on Sunday morning about a mature hog who had got a fish hook caught on her face (between her eyes). She had managed to get into a cupboard where the fishing tackle was kept in the stable where the hedgehogs are fed every night. She must then have dragged the whole fishing line with her into the garden as she was hooked into it. She was found caught up in the line in the morning. The vet took the hook out and glued the wound up. The hog is doing well, she doesn't unroll, so I can only give you a pic of a similar hook, so you will have to use your imagination........