Willows Hedgehog Rescue

The latest batch of little hoglets called The prickly Bunch by the finders children

More Builders contacted tonight who will be building around our area, also Happy Hedgehog has also contact a builder in her area...go girl. The more carers that can do this the better. Would love to work out how many homes can get access. The Bromsgrove and Droitwich is approx 75, Aston Fileds is 182 plus more in the Midland area. 257 new gardens accessible by ground level wildlife so far.

Stan and ollie have just been returned for the last time (we hope) and will be leaving us to be returned to the wild where they belong. Now this week we have had issues with members of the public thinking its ok to trap wild hedgehogs in their garden----it isnt on any level. One you can not own Wildlife, two whats the point of it, cant breed , cant add to numbers , so you may as well not bother. I understand that people may think they are protecting them from all the nasty's out there. But just like a mom letting her child go off to Uni we have to let them go.

With any luck our story should be hitting the papers new week. Hopefully the nationals and the Locals. Bovis homes has also released a press release about Homes for Hedgehogs ..cool. Dont forget to vote if you have not already. Still waiting for word if our celebrity is on board or not. But there is the three amigo's sorry Jayne's on board, Watch out builders.

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Waiting for some very important phone calls off to see a garden this afternoon for hedgehog release site. We have a phone again and real internet access. Been struggling for three weeks get connections but all sorted again.

and theres more, we have just had three hedgehog homes donated to us and i know a forest school that may just be in need of one...Its not all about fund raising but when you work with children and get them involved in wildlife its a pleasure to see little faces light.

Right what can i say about today. More phone calls to builders, 3 hedgehogs going to VETS tomorrow morning, 2 attacks with open wounds and Popeye yet again. His eye infection does not want to go. Cleaning and meds can not go on forever so we are seeing what can be done for the little fella. One home visit completed but no Hedgehogs known to the area so having to check. Need a clear few nights so Stan and Ollie can leave us and an old female ready to go. We have also been given a very generous donation of food from one of our foster carers. Thank you so much we really do appreciate every thing we received. The last few weeks we have also received Jam jars for cash from our earlier in the year fund raising. We have received over £50 so far doing this and today received another £15.00. You wouldnt believe how quickly your loose change will add up. Now I need food..Im hungrey

Popeye has been given new eye drops in the hope it kills the infection once and for all, the female that has been attacked does not have major words and VET feels no need for surgery. The third Hog is with the vets and will be checked and cleaned up. Fingers crossed we can have it back later on.

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say good bye to Stan and Ollie their last trip to freedom. These were our first hoglets in this year and featured on a few of Charlies videos. They have been little characters and have lived up to their names.

All hedgehogs have been cleaned early today. Every thing has had an extra clean just in case we missed a spot. You are always thinking what have we missed, have we done something wrong. another feed about to start and the hope that every thing we are doing will put our little 6 back on track.

Hoglets are holding their own at the moment with fluids and small amounts of replacement milk re introduced slowly. Concerns about one little one marked with red. We need to stop weight loss, weigh in tonight will tell us if there are any more losses. We could weigh after every feed but this would be pointless. So it fingers crossed for later on. No wonder I have so much grey hair.

Sad to say one of the 6 hoglets didnt make it. The red as expected had lost too much weight WHY we just dont know. We will continue fighting for the others.

so sad fingers crossed for the others

Popeye has started his new eye cream so fingers crossed this one will work and finally kill the infection. Another hog with an eye issue may be released shortly. Two of the Munch bunch have gained loads of weight. The Stourbridge bunch out as fosters are doing great and I will start to contact gardens to make sure they are ready for them. The Monkees are also at that stage. The water hogs will also be ready in the next two weeks or so. The long hours and early and late starts is all about the final release. This is whats it all about. Rescue, Rehabilitate and RELEASE

The Prickly Bunch are a totally different set of hogs today. Eating well and no more yucky poo. All trying to get fed first after being on fluids only and no milk for a day and a bit. will take some time to get them to put the weight on that they lost but at least its going up once again.

Every time we put one hog in each of our soft release enclosure, when we go to feed the one has climbed over to join the other, and yet all the books say they dont socialize. Guess the hogs dont read books then...

Yesterday there was no new hedgehogs. Weigh a ll the out side hogs and all doing ok. Weight gains for the 3/4 The one will have a poo sample then if clear its bye bye. Hoglets are doing ok,concern still there and they are being closely monitored

All five hoglets are still with us with real concerns about the green one. We think we may know why this has been happening now (I do hope so) which means it will not again. They all had just fluids for first feed but will go back on to milk re-placer on the next feed. The big female can go tonight if finder can collect. The head trauma male in the out side pen can now go to a secure garden he is putting weight on. If he does ok we may release in the future. Popeye has a real mad eye again, cleaning continues and the new eye drops. The nose hog still sounds awful, another carer gave us some tips so trying them today. All the other hoglets are putting weight on and hopefully we can get them back out into the wild before weather starts to be a big issue. Dan dan has stayed in the wooden home so we may not make his old one back up. This way we can check him out if needed.

Just been al the wy to bilston to pick up a hog from last night. She couldnt get any other center to pick up so finished work early (Oldbury) and went over. The attack has clear signs of attack apparently they did take it to a vet but I couldnt find out which one. Back leg issue on first inspection, hope its not broken will need to go to our vets ASAP.

Last night or should I say 3am we was woken up with a hedgehog question. Now I know our line are 24/7 for emergency. BUT two hedgehogs sitting outside that were adults by the description is not an emergency. AND it wasnt even our area @#$ saying that i would prefer a call and its a false alarm than someone to complete ignore it. Just made to day a lot harder thats all.

Today's list to do.
Feed hoglets every 2.5 hours through out the day
Feed older hoglets that are not gaining weight every 3 hours
order new t-shirts with logo on
Try and make a scarecrow for tomorrow
Sort tombola stuff out as getting low.
Go shopping for us
Phone trade accounts up as supplies getting low.
Then Clean all hogs, check outside weights
Sort homes for those getting close to release.
Eat some time
Try and con anyone to help out....sorry try and recruit volunteers to help out this weekend

Now some of you may think i am a little potty for what i am about to say. But i believe in giving animals a chance. We were thinking of putting a hog to sleep to day as there has been no improvement (Head trauma and injuries) but I was hand feeding and told it to show me just one sign of improvement or else it was a trip to the vets. and ......it walked in a straight line and started to pick up a meal worm that was on the counter. Now if that isnt a sign to say keep trying I dont know what is. (never took one step before now)

SCARECROW DAY
Sun 25 August 2013: 11.00am to 4.00pm

Come and meet a whole host of scarecrow characters. Have a go at building one yourself, and enter our competition to be judged by the Mayor of Redditch. Willow Hedgehog i.e ME has got mine all ready. No longer looks scary

Win £75 first prize, £50 second prize, £25 third prize and £25 for the most imaginative entry. Entry Free to compete

- Scarecrows on display
- Children's activities
- Face painting
- Pony rides
- Scarecrow dancers
- Music, and more...

Reduced entry into the museum, including the Dinosaurs Uncovered Exhibition: Adults £2.00, Children £1.00

Needle Mill Lane
Riverside
Redditch
B98 8HY.

The last hogs in the Prickly Bunch are now starting to put weight on after the scares they gave us. Not only that but they are also trying to tuck into dog food and meal worms. What a turn around. Its a shame we lost some on the way.

Last night another one of the adult females went home. 2 of the foster carers are getting close to release stage. Lugh a small male has finally started to have growing spurts but his eye is now back to normal with no more infection. The nose girl is struggling at the moment. The munch Bunch have all gained weight and will be the next lot out side for a few weeks. The three hogs outside are all gaining weight now I have got their menu correct. Did you know Hedgehogs are really really fussy eaters? The lad with head trauma and sun stroke has made a great recovery, has been outside and will shortly go to a secure garden to have another assessment. If improvement is good he will be released back to the wild. Really pleased with this one.

The new one in has collapsed, fluids, heat and hope. Fingers crossed she survives the night. Popeye will need the vets this infection will not clear in his eye, must be deep routed in his eye socket that the vet stitched up. One other worry is a small juv losing weight no signs of any worms but may have a problem with his bowls. He will need the vets