Steve came to pick her up….and you know how you get that….Oh my god, just what I need right now feeling…. Well I had one of those moments! Steve knocked at the door and shouted… Sue, do you know you have a hedgehog out here?’ Oh…S**T! Just before camp….AGAIN! This always seems to happen just before Oakleaf, personally I think they get together and plan it in advance. Now anyone who has read my blog over the last couple of years knows that I have done B&B for many a hedgehog. I can’t quite remember how I became the local hedgehog fixit woman, but word soon got round! Now if you know nothing about hedgehogs let me tell you a story… (Sue puts Bardic hat on)….
First, you know a hedgehog is poorly if it’s out during the day. They prefer the cooler night air and as their vision is about as useless as mine, well they’re blind as bats! That’s why when your headlight hits them they are startled…. So am I when I see headlights while crossing the road!
Anyway, assuming you find hedgehog during the day, bring inside and feed CAT FOOD, not bread and milk this WILL kill them! Then feed water unless you have Goats milk. Goats milk is good, cows milk kills.
Ok assume the little monkey eats, take into bathroom and de flea with flea powder by placing the hedgehog in the bath. Do Not fill bath with water first, they cannot swim! The bath is merely to make sure the little sod can’t climb out! Dust with powder, stand well back and leave for half and hour.
Then as soon as possible after that feed cat worming granules and let them drink dehydration fluid obtainable from your local vet.
Experience will show whether the spikey one is actually ill, dehydrated or just pulling the wool over your eyes for a free meal, board and lodge. Please be warned, these thinkgs are not cheap to keep in B&B. If you want a pet got and get yourself a cat! For an adult hedgehog will eat the same amount of food as an adult cat. They chomp when the eat, they grind their teeth and above all they stink!
A sort of disinfectant crossed with an earthy kind of smell. Something to REALLY consider if you intend to overwinter them and keep them out of hibernation. This happened to me one year with the most ungreatful little madam that ever was. I reared her from a baby, then she was too small to hibernate, she escaped in the kitchen one Christmas which resulted in the whole kitchen having to be dismantled at 2.30am! My late husband was thrilled! Lol…. Then as it was a very late spring that year I had to keep her till May! She was called Spitz, because she spat! She spat at me, the dog and especially the cats, she hated everyone and saw it as her right that she was fed what and when she wanted. And although this blog entry may sound like I dislike them….. no it’s not true…they are lovely things really, and if you have one in the garden you are truly blessed, there’s no better way of keeping down the slugs so please look after it and make sure it stays.
Well, here she is....probably about 4 weeks old
I really thought this one had, had it. She lay on her side for a couple of hours after feeding and really thought that yet another one bites the dust. So, I put her outside in a box, went out an hour later….still in box….2 hours still in box on side….hmmmm….. just been out now… gone! I realise now she was just sleeping off the ¾ of a tin of cat food she had devoured!
By the way…. If you do rescue a hedgehog and it does die, take heart….. they really do have a high mortality rate and if you found it during the day, chances are it was ill anyway.
You must admit…. They’re a bit cute though :o)
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