Hetty the Hedgehog comes into my life one sunny afternoon in autumn

Welcome to Hetty's Blog.

Hetty is an 'orphaned' hoglet who came into my life today. The orphaned bit is a guess; I don't know for sure.

I came home to find Hetty sniffing around the front door in the middle of the day. She took some food (chicken) hungrily and drank some rain water I had put out for the birds.

After that she staggered a few steps to the door mat and lay down to sleep in the sun.

A quick google later and I realised I had a hoglet on my hands who needed taking care of.

I don't like to interfere with Mother Nature. I know she is capable of a fine job without my help, but all the signs pointed towards 'If I don't help, then this hedgehog will probably die.'

As she didn't look at all sick and ate with such a ferocious appetite, it seemed a shame to leave her to fend for herself when the odds were stacked against her.

I weighed her and she was just 5oz. In order to hibernate, which usually begins at the end of this month, she needs to be between 16 and 24 oz.

A phonecall to a hedgehog sanctuary revealed that I should look for her Mum tonight; which I'm about to do. But if I couldn't find her, Hetty would need looking after throughout the winter months.

So currently Hetty is in a box after having had her third meal of chicken and I'm going to see if I can find her Mum.

The lady from the hedgehog sanctury thought it was most likely that the Mother had either been killed or she had hibernated and Hetty had got up and wandered off..........