Nursing Hedgehogs

We have a family of hedgehogs that live close by. We often see them at night foraging around the garden and we have been blessed to occasionally encounter them during the day. Daylight sightings are unusual and in most cases hedgehogs come out during day if they are poorly. I am pleased to say that up until now, all our daylight encounters have just been because our hedgehogs appear to be hungry and they have been healthy and happy :o) See OHC Mammal Study 1 and Miss Tiggy-Winkle is Back!

Sadly, late Saturday afternoon, Miss V-L noticed a rather lifeless looking hedgehog lying on the lawn. Initially we thought the cats had attacked it but I remembered that when the cats had encountered Miss Tiggy-Winkle earlier on in the year they were rather weary and avoided her for the most part. 

On closer inspection we noticed that the hedgehog was still breathing. I picked it up and had a closer look – no obvious injuries, but the poor creature was clearly not well at all. His little eyes remained closed and as I picked him up he tried to roll into a ball but lacked the energy to do so.

We wrapped him up in a towel, and placed him on a hot water bottle inside a box. Then it was all hands on deck to trying to find how we could help this little fellow. I contacted the ‘British Hedgehog Preservation Society’ and spoke to a lady who asked a couple of questions, turned out that on closer inspection, our hedgehog was riddled with fly eggs. We were advised to take a soft toothbrush and brush these eggs away, then contact the RSPCA for help as all the vets were closed by this time.

Poor little thing! Even though he was so poorly, the brush must have tickled a bit because as we brushed his little back legs tried to scratch in response. A good sign I thought.

The RSPCA officer arrived in due course and took our hedgehog to their emergency vet for treatment. I have to say that she did say that he was in a bad way, but at least he would not have to suffer if he was beyond help as if necessary they would put him down rather than let him die slowly. 

So a sad story – although I am hopeful that all is well. I guess our contacts with nature are not always going to be pleasant or happy. Through this experience we have learnt more about hedgehogs – this time what to do with a sick one. Always learning, always experiencing, always engaging. Nature has many lessons to teach us :o)

Blessings to you all…