A phonecall to the Hedgehog preservation society

I phoned the Hedgehog preservation society for some advice yesterday and learnt a lot about Autumn juveniles, as Hetty is official known.

I was getting a bit jittery about what to do, how to do it and whether we were doing all we could to help Hetty survive.

After ascertaining whether of not we were willing to look after Hetty or whether we wanted to get someone else to take care of her, the first thing this wonderful and knowledgeable lady told me was not to be surprised if everything seemed to be going well and then one day Hetty just died unexpectedly.

:(

Apparently the odds of an autumn juvenile surviving are much slimmer than their summer cousins. She said that numerous people ring her up asking her what they did wrong because they have a dead hedgehog on their hands, but she assured me this is common and it just happens for no apparent reason.

So with that reality check out of the way I went on to ask my questions:

What should I be feeding our orphaned hoglet?
Should a baby hedgehog be having milk?
She keeps going under the fire, is she too cold?
What if a hoglet gets too cold?
Will a hoglet wee or poo in their own nests?
Can a hedgehog pass on any diseases to humans?
Do hedgehogs lose their prickles (spines)?
Do hedgehogs bite?

I'll type the answers up tomorrow. Hetty gets quite loud at 1:30am with rearranging her bedroom furniture and I'm too tired to type much today!

Hetty has an adoring Auntie in the village

Yesterday we caught up with a lovely lady in the village, Mandy, who is a bit of a secret animal Saint. We had turned up at the shop she works in to buy some cheese. We always take our own plastic box with us to save on unnecessary plastic packaging.

When we walked in we were greeted like Royalty, only she was disappointed to see an empty box. Mandy thought we had taken Hetty in for a visit in the box!

We spent ages chatting and she was quite sure that if Hetty hadn't have found us that day she would be dead. The temperature dropped so low during her first night in our house that Mandy was convinced Hetty would not have been big enough to survive.

I have to admit, it bought a bit of a lump to my throat to think about that.

I had been questioning (and still am) the wisdom of what we are doing. Is it right to make a wild animal dependent on you? But if we don't then Hetty would be dead. It appears that apart from lack of food and warmth she is healthy, so is it right to just let die because something has happened to her Mother?

The fact that Hetty had survived a couple of days with us and was eating was a good sign, we were assured.

Mandy has up to 13 hedgehogs visiting her back garden, and she feeds them all. Last year she noted that none of them hibernated due to the seasons getting so messed up. I remember last year we only had three frosts and the rest of the time it was damp and mild.

Mandy also told me that hedgehogs are now breeding all year round whereas they usually have two litters - one in the spring or one in the late summer. If these babies are born too late in the season then they do not have enough reserves to survive the winter hibernation.

It's a world gone mad isn't it? Many people claim climate change is not happening, but you only have to look at the animals to realise it is very real threat to our wildlife.

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..........