Patients
Current patients
Barney (male) – rescued 29 September 2009
Barney the juvenile hog with his makeshift cast which sadly did not work
Barney is an Autumn juvenile with a difference – he had a fractured tibia in his left hind leg. Despite the best efforts of Dennis Jones at Byron Veterinary Surgery to save the leg by constructing a splint, Barney had to have his leg amputated on 23rd October. After recovering very quickly from the operation, performed by Ben at the same veterinary clinic, Barney will now have to stay with me over winter, to enable him to put some more weight on. The long-term plan is for Barney to be relocated to an enclosed, wildlife-friendly garden in the Spring of 2010. In the meantime, he scuttles around happily on three legs – indeed, he is faster than most four legged varieties of hedgehog I know ! He’s eating well and getting fatter by the minute.
Previous patients
Stumpy (male) – rescued 1 October 2009, passed away 14 October 2009
Stumpy was a tiny juvenile who had a traumatic start to life, losing his left hind leg completely (could have been any number of things – a man-made hazard or a peckish mammal seems most likely). The gods were smiling on him, it seemed, as the injury healed naturally and no infection set in. The biggest concern was his weight – around 300g. I battled to get this youngster to take to wet food but he would only eat dried mealworms. Unfortunately, he never was able to put any significant weight on, his highest weight being 319g, and on 12 October he all but stopped eating and his weight started to plummet (something other hedgehog carers have discovered – some hogs just seem to give up a few days after being rescued). Despite trying rehydration fluids and an anti-worming treatment, Stumpy died peacefully in his sleep during the early hours of 14 October. He is buried in Snape Wood, his place of birth.
unnamed – rescued 25 September 2009, put to sleep 26 September 2009
A very sad case – this hedgehog crawled into my garden in the afternoon (always a bad sign, a hog out in the day time) and it was obvious this creature was in a lot of trouble. It had lost a lot of spines, and had been bitten at least twice by a dog or fox. The animal was taken to Byron Veterinary Surgery in Nottingham the following morning, and it was found that the injuries were far worse than originally thought, to the point the creature was being eaten alive by maggots. The very upsetting decision to put the hedgehog to sleep was not a hard choice to make. If owners of dogs know their animals have attacked a hog, they have a duty of care to get that hedgehog to a vet as soon as possible – infection takes no time at all to set in, neither does flystrike (flies laying eggs in the wounds). Despite its horrific injuries, the hog did at least eat well and was safe and warm during its last hours – it was never named for obvious reasons.
Maddison (female) – rescued August 2009, released August 2009)
Maddison had a very bad day – first she lost her temporary Summer nest after the Council mowed the grass in The Meadows, then she suffered serious harrassment from a group of children who proceeded to play catch with her. Thankfully a father and daughter saw what was going on and rescued Maddison, who came back to Bulwell with Clayton for some observation. Within two days, the hog was fighting fit, amazingly showing no ill-effects at all, and was very grumpy indeed, constantly trying to dig her way out of the box she was housed in. She was released directly into Snape Wood just over 48 hours of coming in (Marking : two white Tippex blobs on back).
Herbert (male) – rescued August 2009, released August 2009
A very poorly hedgehog, found out during the day by a lovely family from Hucknall one very wet Saturday. Herbert had a very bad facial twitch, was sneezing regularly, had one very swollen and bulging eye, and one half-closed eye. He also had a huge tick in his ear. A course of anti-biotics and wormer saw Herbert, who came in at 400g, rapidly improve and within two weeks he was in ‘soft release’ at double the weight, and with eyes returned to normal and the tick removed. His twitch has all but gone. Despite all the handling and administration of medication, Herbs was a bundle of happiness and joy, although as his strength was regained, he became ‘wilder’ (read ‘grumpier’ !). Herbs was released three weeks after coming in, and is still living in a box in Clayton’s garden, despite being free to come and go as he pleases. (Marking : white line down middle of back)
Bobby (male) - rescued April 2009, released April 2009
Bobby was dangerously underweight post-hibernation, coming in from Clayton’s garden at just 368g. A week’s R & R and he put on 120g, before being released straight into the warm April sunshine. A short stay. Unfortunately, Clayton forgot to mark him, so it is not known if he is still visiting
Henry (male) – rescued December 2008, released March 2009
Another underweight Autumn juvenile found in Clayton’s garden, coming in at 400g. Henry was an extremely calm and happy hedgehog, hibernating regularly, usually for a week at a time. He didn’t put on as much weight as his room-mate Charlie, and left after a week in soft release in late March 2009 weighing around 850g. He has never been seen again since release (marking : white Tippex H on his back)
Charlie (male) – rescued November 2008, released April 2009
Charlie was an Autumn juvenile, and was discovered collapsed in Clayton’s garden, Snape Wood in Bulwell. Weight on admission 289g. Charlie had lungworm and also pneumonia. A course of wormer and anti-biotics, and Charlie soon started piling the weight on, but stubbornly refused to hibernate (probably something to do with all the food he was eating !). He was a very grumpy hedgehog indeed, and liked to ‘flop out’ and snooze in the open in the spare bedroom. He did squeeze about two weeks worth of hibernation in during the very cold weather in February 2009. He went into ‘soft release’ (see explanation at foot of the page) in early April 2009 and was released two weeks later, weighing around 1.2 kg. He has been seen from time to time in the garden since (marking : white Tippex C on his back)
What is a ‘soft release’ ?
This is a term to describe the release of a rehabilitated animal into a controlled outside environment.
For the purposes of hedgehogs I rehabilitate this comprises of a 3m x 3m pen kept on my patio, a hedgehog house, lots of straw and bedding, and food and water on tap 24 hours a day.
It allows the animal to acclimatize to the outside world again, to get used to the sights, smells and sounds of nature (and man !) which it may have missed since being indoors for rehabilitation.
After a period of time of between a week and three weeks (usually dictated by when the hog starts climbing the walls of the pen to get out – then you know they’re ready), the pen is either removed or lifted up slightly so that the hog can explore the world outside of the pen. The hog will then decide whether he or she wants to make a run for it and return to the wood, or whether they’d like to stay around for a bit.
The provision of food is continued in the pen area, so that the hog can return if they get hungry (research shows that, despite an initial weight loss after release from rehab, hogs quickly regain their foraging skills and put weight on). They can, if they choose, stay in the house too – this is kept available for as long as they need it. Some don’t ever use it again, some pop by from time to time and some, like Herbert, decide to move in permanently, and even entertain guests (other hogs regularly shack up with Herbert for the night !).
Help needed !
Clayton is always on the look out for indoor hutches, cat/dog carrying baskets or cages, old towels, white meat dog/cat food in jelly etc – if you can help do please contact him on 0115 875 3516.
Themocracy
I have a 8 week old hedgehog who i have looked after since he was 2 weeks old, he was found wondering in the road one morning on my way to work.We have named him Gorgeous George,i have managed to feed him well with the help of the internet for advice, he now weighs 400gms, i am keeping him till spring as he wont make the required weight intime,thanks for a really informative web site, Elaine.
Excellent stuff – it’s truly rewarding looking after hogs over winter. If you need help planning the soft release in Spring let me know
Hi just a little update about gorgeous george! He went into soft release after coming out of hibernation in my garden shed,he spent 3 weeks in soft release as the temps were too low, then i lifted the run he was in and gave him the choice of staying in his nest box or leaving, he chose to leave! Havnt marked him and havnt seen him but have a few hogs which come to feed on a night so hope hes one of the gang.Now have a new inmate brought to me with a broken and infected back leg, eating now and perky so hope we can keep the leg, but its not good. We may have a 3 legged hedgy soon will let you know.