HOGARTH'S HEDGEHOG RESCUE:
JULY, 2008 - LATEST NEWS! [written, 14th/July/'08]
Well, here is the very latest news from the first half of July, this year. We are once again being inundated with calls and messages for help, that sometimes now struggling to keep up with the demand. Our first orphaned baby to be directly brought to us from Norton-Juxta-Twycross, near Twycross Zoo, called "Brambles '08" is doing very well so far, I think that he must be almost weaned. He arrived during the evening on the 1st of the month, as a very small hoglet, rather cold and sluggish at first but we very soon brought him around, in the warm. He was cold and sluggish because he had gone without mother's milk for too long - he was weakened that he couldn't hold all his spines upright, all this despite the weather being really hot and humid that evening. His very first weigh-in was only 80 g. so a bit underweight for his stage of growth. If he'd been left any much longer before being found, the chances of being pulled through successfully would have been a lot less likely - although having said that, we have managed to bring them back from nearly dead in the past! I worked out that he was approximately 2 - 3 weeks old. He wouldn't take any weaning food at all for some days, so this meant that he needed syringe-feeding on Esbilac milk-replacer, including in the night. The first few nights were very tiring but all the hard work has most certainly paid off. Luckily, he went from being a good feeder to being a VERY good feeder! Always a good sign with hoglets, you then know that they stand a fighting chance. I was just sad that the other little ones in the litter could not be found, but happy at the same time that we have saved this one. We've got plenty of Esbilac powder in stock that was pre-ordered late last year, planning ahead. To be honest, we dare not use anything else - now because of our 100% success that we had during the whole of Summer last year, thanks to the excellent quality of the stuff!
Little Brambles now eats a lot like an adult hedgehog, but of course, he's still being given Esbilac+weaning-food, to make absolute sure that he is weaned off properly. His food has to be mashed right down, so that he can manage it easily. Brambles is part of a baby boom that we thought would never happen, as this year for the first time in 6 years or so the first calls about the new generation of baby hoglets (born Spring '08 season) are unusually late when compared with previous records. We're not sure why but one theory is the very cold snap at Easter and in to the first half of April, is the cause of this brood to be slightly late. When the weather becomes still very cold during early-Spring, this will undoubtedly cause many hedgehogs to go back into hibernation, putting thoughts of mating on the back-burner for a while. They need to preserve their precious fat-reserves and energy as best as possible, when their natural food is scarce. In fact, the latest that we have ever seen hedgehogs still properly hibernating is right up until the middle of May!!
We were, like the previous 5 years, expecting to get calls from within the UK about hoglets from at least the end of May, however they didn't arrive until well into June. Then, all of a sudden, from the 18th the calls for help started - some of the babies being very young, at least one (in Manton, Rutland) was described as being a tiny newborn. Usually, without fail during the last 5 years, the first baby or babies would be brought directly to us at the climax of Spring - while the BBC Springwatch programmes are being broadcast. Last year being Impy '07 from Nottingham, arriving on the 10th of June - also named "Super Impy" through the Over the Garden Gate web site (OGG; gardeners' Forum). The year before - in June '06 - a family of babies with their mother from, ironically, Norton-Juxta-Twycross! The litter and their mum had been very badly disturbed by a dog. The Twycross Zoo area is within our own "catchment" - which stretches up to Tamworth. This is because we are based so central and on the A5 Watling Street, and that there appears to be no-one else available to help for this area. Our hedgehog rescue services fill this gap. More on this elsewhere in this edition!
These pictures (shown above) are the very first that were took on the first evening, when little Brambles had just arrived. You can see in the pictures that he couldn't hold all of his spines upright as he had become weakened and dehydrated from lack of fluids and food, but he very soon recovered. If you see a baby out on its own in the daylight that looks as young as this (only the size of a small orange), then he/she will definitely need help.
This next set of pictures are of hedgehogs we have cared for/ successfully over-wintered, being rehabilitated back into the wild: 1.) Tiny (Trueman) from Thirlmere Road in Hinckley (it seemed a miracle that he survived at all, in July last year!); 2.) Hedgehog originally from Twycross Road, Burbage - at dusk, in early-May - who snuffled off into the bluebells but was sighted several more times; and, 3.) An over-wintered hoglet from Ibstock - a survivor of two very sick siblings, brought to us at the very end of 2007.
The Norton-Juxta-Twycross Family (Mother and babies) - pictured here in July, 2006. Several other families were successfully hand-reared during that hot Summer, that were eventually all rehabilitated and released back into the wild. Our first hoglet received this year also came from the same village.
This hedgehog received in the Spring was referred to us by the Leics. Wildlife Hospital, in Kibworth Beauchamp - the hedgehog sadly died the same evening, despite all our efforts. It was a late-born that had become extremely malnourished and by the time any help was sought, it was too late, as the hog was already critically ill when found collapsed. If you see a hedgehog in this sorry state, he/she will need urgent help - the best course of action would be to take to a Vet. If the hog DOES survive, then a local rescuer/rehabilitator can then take over with its care, saving their resources.