oaw[HH] - Hedgepigs / Hedgehogs

For some years now, we have been looking after ill or injured hedgehogs. Erinaceus europaeus - these spiny mammals are often considered to be Britain's favourite wild/garden animal. Habitat destruction and a relatively poor reproduction rate is making them more scare than usual.)

Please: do not feed bread and milk to hedgehogs, it often makes them ill. If you want attract them - meat (not fish) based catfood will do very well, they will reward you by scoffing slugs and other pests. (which means you and you neighbours will not need to put slug pellets out, which can also make them ill - or even kill them if they eat too many slugs that have been poisoned by eating such pellets ...
Another myth is about fleas and ticks ...

Several have been found wandering around in daylight, late in the year. Usually far too underweight to survive the winter, so we take them into care and feed them up.

One rescue was amusing, at least in retrospect. Rustling was heard from a under a workbench and some plastic sheeting was seen to be wandering around. It turned out to have a hedgehog within the folds, whose spikes had impaled the plastic, that took quite a while to unpick! the lucky animal then tucked into a large helping of rabbit catfood and drank some water, before bumbling off for a sleep. That night - and for several more - the extra outdoor feed station was licked clean!

We have a couple of outdoor runs / hutches which are home longer term residents, ie those old / fat enough to hibernate outdoors, but not fit enough to release back into the wild.

(By June 2013 this F****r set had 33 views)

For some years now, we have been looking after ill or injured hedgehogs. Erinaceus europaeus - these spiny mammals are often considered to be Britain's favourite wild/garden animal. Habitat destruction and a relatively poor reproduction rate is making them more scare than usual.) Please: do not feed bread and milk to hedgehogs, it often makes them ill. If you want attract them - meat (not fish) b…  (read more)

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