Jersey Hedgehog Preservation Group

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Hogs are making return trips to us, yesterday one was identified by her green nail varnish on her head, she had come from the same garden last autumn and had been released in December, so that's a good advert for pound shop nail varnish!! She still has a noisy chest but seems OK. PS the pic is not of her but another hog with a green head, I cheated!

The other who came back today has made an epic journey since April when she was released down the dip in Mont Nicolle to the bottom of the huge grounds at Le Val which is across the main road and right down almost to the sea.....she is about half the weight she was in April.

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If you know anyone who works at TTS in Bellozanne or knows the guys who work at Gate 4, please pass on our thanks for a brilliant rescue today.. I got a call from the Shelter to say that their driver was bringing me a hog which had been trapped down a pipe on the construction site at Bellozanne. By the time he got there, the guys had cut the pipe and removed the hog who is covered in dry mud (not sure if its male or female!!! its not my eyesight its my memory ...that's an old joke my Dad used to tell!!) No really am not sure if its a willy or a lump of dry mud!! think she may be a girl!! Have been having a few problems lately in telling the boys from the girls!!!

See the short claws in the pic where (s)he has been clawing trying to get out, they will grow back in time, there are no wounds or cuts that I can see, the hog is very thin, so we don't know how long she has been down there.

Brilliant Rescue, if you know who to thank, please do so on our behalf!

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Update on baby from Portelet who came through the fence asking for help, is doing fine was 138g on 27th August and is now 256g!

The 2 babes from St Peter who were fetched by the lady on the bike, are now also doing well, one was always OK and now the little one is doing fine too. On 29th August they weighed 129g and 135g and now they are 147g and 176g, here they are in my hand.

RAIN AT LAST! This will be great for the hogs, their natural food will come to the surface, should help them a lot it has been so dry for so long, so no moaning about the weather today!!

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I am sure there is no need to remind you people who are reading this that if you find an injured or sick hedgehog or if your dogs have got hold of one, PLEASE DO NOT WAIT 24 HOURS before seeking help. If you cannot get hold of one of us by ringing 734340,(please DON'T LEAVE URGENT MESSAGES on this page or by email, because when I am busy I am not on the computer!)
Then please ring the JSPCA on 724331 or out of hours 07797 720331 or New Era Veterinary Hospital if the hog is hurt or in a very bad way 730521 or out of hours emergency 07797 711585.

The reason for this lecture is that a lady brought us a hog today which had been mauled by her dogs yesterday morning, she had put her in a box of grass for the day. The hog had miscarried 3 very early foetuses with the shock. I took her straight to Nick at New Era who is doing all he can to save her. She has some holes on her back but her tummy is in tact. PS the picture is of another hog from last year - I am cheating again, wasn't even thinking of looking for the camera today!
If the babies looked like kidney beans and hedgehog's gestation is 35 days, do any of the vets/nurses know how far along these babies would have been? Can we tell ourselves that they would have been born too late in the year to survive if they had gone to full term??

Yesterday I collected a hog with a deep hole in the bridge of her nose. She did not survive the night, I could see the bones inside the nose, so the outlook was not good anyway, so she took her own way out, better in the end.

Having depressed you all - to cheer you up I can report the successful releases of 3 of this year's babies today now it has rained. They have all gone to gardens where people will feed them, as they haven't had much experience of life in the wild!
They came in weighing 65, 69g and 103g and have all gone out at between 575 and 600g! Since July, not bad going in 2 months, one was the baby from Archirondel who has always been feisty! Another was found in the road near St George's School and the third was found in Rue de la Presse, where the St Peter two have been released.
If you scroll back to 11th and 13th July you will see their baby pictures!

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Hope this isn't too much gore, this is a head wound also found today with lovely juicy maggots in it, Ruth has made it look better than this by now I am sure!

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The hog who got stuck in a pipe at Bellozanne on 3rd September now has swollen fingers from digging to get out. He is on antibiotic so they should get better soon.

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ON a more cheery note! Got a babe from Noirmont yesterday who is doing fine and another from St Brelade today who was covered in fly eggs, but seems OK for now and is nice and clean. Here is the Noirmont babe....

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Here is a pic of the hog mentioned in the last post who was attacked by dogs, she has spent 3 nights in hospital and last night actually ate something, so now she is back with me. Hugh has cleaned up the wounds, this is one on her back there is another big one on her bum. The jury is still out as to whether or not she will make it

Another branchage victim put to sleep today, very nasty head wound with maggots. On the plus side I have released one of this year's babies who came in at 91g in July and she went out at 595g! back to Creepy Valley where she came from, there is water in the brook, should be a good release site for her.

Dru is working brilliantly as usual!! I don't think, a lady brought me a hedgehog today, she had had it in a cat box since Sunday, I picked it up to examine it, took some ticks off it, its face was swollen and there was pus in the mouth, it was gasping......and it died as I handled it!! How not to admit a hog into care.......in my defence it was a very old girl, her eyes were popping out, so I am guessing there was a lot of infection behind them or elsewhere in her head/mouth from the smell......not saying I could have done anything or the vets would have been able to save her if she had been brought to me on Sunday, but we would have stood a bit of a chance.....

On the plus side, a big hog who I don't think I have reported on before was taken to New Era where Ruth x-rayed him and could find no damage to his hind legs, but he was not using them, he was pulling himself along only using his front legs...BUT NOW HE IS USING ALL 4 FEET TO WALK! So it was the right decision to give him a chance, I think the right hind foot is still not being placed quite normally, but the improvement is dramatic. Am keeping him inside for a few more days to check on his right hind, and then I will put him outside to see how that goes and then we can think about release...something I never thought would happen when I saw this hog sort of swimming along on the newspaper! Wonderful result, time and patience! let the hog sort himself out! So you see some of our patients do survive being cared for by me!!!

2 releases to report - have just taken the baby from La Commune Farm back home, she weighed 626g - came in on 20th July at only 70g yelling her head off to have a pee (with help from me!) Lovely release site, there are other hogs there who are fed with the cats in the barn..wish there were more places like that!

The other hog went yesterday, the adult with the badly damaged knee which was fixed by vet Peter Haworth, she went back to a field near Five Oaks.

On the down side a hog was put to sleep yesterday, he had a nasty swollen head, there must have been an abscess or tumour inside there, the teeth were OK, so they weren't the cause of the swelling. Sometimes if a back tooth at the top is rotten the eye above it can get infected and swollen, but once the vets have removed the bad teeth, the hog can make a really good recovery, sadly not the case this time.
Sorry no photos today!

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Today's saga is about a poor hog trapped in a humane (at least!) rat trap, we don't know how long he had been there. He was very dehydrated, thin and shaking when I picked him up. The pic is of him tucking in as soon as the food was put in front of him. He appears to be unhurt...so that's one good thing. So the lesson is, if you have to put down traps for any sort of animal, PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU CHECK THEM AT THE VERY LEAST ONCE A DAY preferably more often and for the hogs' sake make it as early in the morning as you can.......We have had some horrible injuries from rat traps in the past - not just from the killing sort - but this time we are lucky......

The second lesson is taken from the book of swimming pools...... I released a young hog today quite near to where he was found in a swimming pool ...lovely woodland..brilliant release site......the garden where he was found has a wall round most of it apart from the pool in the middle! So if you have a pool or garden pond PLEASE MAKE SURE HEDGEHOGS OR ANY OTHER ANIMAL CAN GET OUT OF IT, by putting some sort of escape ramp, wire netting, rigid plastic trellis, stones, planks of wood or whatever...... and don't take the escape ramp away until you put the winter cover over your swimming pool......Thank you!

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Good day today released 3 hogs. One was the baby from Rue de Craslin, she has gone to a member who will put out food for her, the other was the one from Mont Nicolle who went all the way to the bottom of Le Val in 5 months since her release this April, she really must have hated her sister who she was released with! That is the best release site on the island, massive grounds all natural no chemicals with careful gardening staff and food put out every night, what more could a hog ask for? The third one was a baby found in the road early this summer, she has also gone to a garden bordering on the golf course where there is always food put out....lots of driving and sitting round in traffic jams but a worthwhile afternoon in the end!
The pic is of the Rue de Craslin babe when she was small, so that's all 3 of the hand reared from tiny hoglets all successfully released!! phew!

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2 more youngsters released this afternoon, one from the railway walk, went back to a garden with food and the other from a bunker at Val de la Mare went to another garden with food and water always put out.

The pic is of the head wound you last saw on 15th September to show progress, the wound is really healing up well. AND MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL THE HOG CAN STILL ROLL UP SO IS RELEASABLE!!! Thanks to Ruth at New Era Veterinary Hospital who treated her in the first place! We should be finished with branchage casualties for this year now.....famous last words!

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This is today's new arrival, came in with fly eggs and just hatched maggots by and up its anus (don't know if Mr Facebook will let me say arsehole??!!) see if I can post this!! So I didn't take a pic of the maggots! and by the time I got the camera from the house he had rolled up properly and his bum and tail looked a lot better and less sore!! So here is him telling me to ....off as he has had enough of being poked around today!! He has already eaten a bit of meat!

Released another 4 today - 2 adults and 2 youngsters. The one from the pipe at Bellozanne has gone to a nearby garden where there is always food. The one from Hougue Bie who couldn't move his back leg, and then put himself right on his own with time and cage-rest has also gone to a garden with a feeding station quite near to where he was found. One youngster went home to where he was found and the other went to a garden with fields all round, a better place than where he had been found in a swimming pool in an enclosed garden with no greenery.

A very large hog who is on a return visit after only a month back in the wild has spent the day in hospital being x-rayed....he is a very noisy breather and always was. He has been commuting between the gardens of 2 members and probably stopping off in other gardens on the way getting food from people we don't know about as well!! He has been diagnosed with Pickwickian Syndrome!! which means he is too fat and collapses in a heap gasping after his dinner, so is found by concerned people who have put out the food for him!!!! His chest is not good - but nothing nasty showed up on the x-ray, so we hope to put him back where he turned up the second time after he has spent some time outside here to check he is as good as he can be!!!!

Nice quiet weekend just 3 youngsters in - no injuries or fly eggs - just out in the day and too small to make it through the winter. Last day of the hedgehog year today - no wild party tonight - will give you all the facts and figures for the year in a few days when I have counted them all up!

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Some news from down under.........

"FLUFFY" has been released tonight. I released his brother about 6 weeks ago. "Fluffy" came in from a Vet clinic in Greenlane, Auckland weighing 212gms. Full of Mange and hungry. Initially that was all. However just prior to release (at the same time as his brother Sherlock); he developed an ear infection?. Anyway after a Vet visit and antibiotics and some further obs for a few weeks - he was fine. Weighed him this morning and he was a whopping 907gms. Have fun in the wild Fluffy. (Narelle).
Photo: "FLUFFY" has been released tonight. I released his brother about 6 weeks ago. "Fluffy" came in from a Vet clinic in Greenlane, Auckland weighing 212gms. Full of Mange and hungry. Initially that was all. However just prior to release (at the same time as his brother Sherlock); he developed an ear infection?. Anyway after a Vet visit and antibiotics and some further obs for a few weeks - he was fine. Weighed him this morning and he was a whopping 907gms. Have fun in the wild Fluffy. (Narelle).

Right! are you ready for this? Have spent the whole afternoon counting hogs and finding lost ones and redoing the totals and saving my computer files, has done my head in!!

The GRAND TOTALS FOR OCTOBER 2012 TO SEPTEMBER 2013
are: 510 admissions, 164 dead or put to sleep and 383 releases. This is a 75% release rate = releases divided by admissions, which is better than the last few years, so they have been a healthy bunch this year, lots last winter, but not so many this spring and summer...so we are doing quality not quantity this year!

The last quarter's figures are:

July: 70 admissions, 28 dead and 19 releases
August: 44 admissions, 19 dead and 20 releases
September: 33 admissions, 13 dead and 29 releases

I will put more details on the news page of the website:
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but give me a bit of time, it's not on there yet!!

Or if you would like me to email you a newsletter at the end of the month please contact me on: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
rather than putting your email address up on this page for all to see, or leave me a message on here if you aren't fussed about broadcasting your email address!!! Thanks Dru

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Great news for the hog with the nasty head wound, I have been posting photos of on here. The last one was on 26th September, and now look at him! I have put him outside now, this photo was taken yesterday and there is no blood there at all now just a tiny scab. He is releasable too, which is the really great news as he can roll up properly. Often when they have had a head wound, they are left unable to roll up because they have lost too much tissue from their heads and the vets have to sew up the wound. This is a really good result, will let you know when he is released.

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Picked up a hog from a well meaning man last night who had rescued it from the middle of a busy road on Friday night... he was right to do that, but then he put it in his enclosed garden for 2 nights where he thought there would be enough food to eat as he had a lot of slugs......PLEASE don't do this if you rescue a hog, do phone for advice, if they are big enough and you have found them at night the kindest thing is to release them immediately somewhere safe near where you found them. If they are too small to survive the winter (they need to be a minimum of 450g) then put them in a box with some ripped up newspaper to hide in and give them some water to drink and some dog or cat food to eat and keep the box inside the house in a warm room and ring us on 734340 in the evening before 8pm or the next morning after 8am. If the hedgehog is injured or needs urgent veterinary attention, please phone New Era vets on 07797 711585 if you are able to take it to them. If you are unable to drive after dark, please phone the Animals' Shelter emergency ambulance service on 07797 720331 who will take the hedgehog to the vets for you. You will not be charged for either of these services.

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Tried to post some photos of the hog with the dog bites, they have appeared in the photo album above! The hog with the worse bites has been put outside into an enclosure the bites are almost healed, see pic. The other hog with less severe bites is completely healed and will be released later in the week.

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We also have a bigger baby who is 199g who you can see exploring the hutch he is very light in weight for his size and is older than the previous hoglet....fingers crossed.....

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A lady called Tabitha Wrigley took a hog to New Era Veterinary Hospital I have no contact details for her, if you know her, can you please send her this post and ask her to get in touch with me. The hog has a nasty abscess on the side of its neck, it has been drained by the vets and I am continuing to flush gunk out each day. As you can see he cannot roll up because of the abscess on the neck.