As spring well as truly arrives and we get to see the blossom on the trees, enjoy the warmer weather and hear the birds singing again, this also signals the start of wildlife slowly emerging from however they have endured the winter.
In the case of the hedgehog, they may have struggled during the winter months just to survive to this point. Lack of food is one of the main challenges facing hedgehogs at the moment, that is, once they have successfully navigated our busy roads, avoided the strimmer, shimmied out of the bonfire before being burnt alive, struggled out of the pretty garden pond they used for a drink and managed not be get poisoned by the pesticides that now so often coat their food.
These prickly cuties are nocturnal animals and this means they sleep during daylight hours and are awake & active overnight when it is dark. Therefore, if you see a hedgehog out during daylight hours you need to take notice and quite possibly action!
Hedgehogs do not sunbathe, or like to take a stroll in the sunshine and so if you see a hog, who may appear healthy, lying in the sun or snuffling slowly around your garden, the team from Woodlands Animal Sanctuary urge you to take rapid action.
Carefully place the hog into a high sided carboard box, with a heat source (incredibly important!) can quite simply be the first step to saving it. Using thick gloves or wrapping the hog in a towel will mean that you won’t get hurt by their spines, but you may well be saving their life. Once you have done this, then it’s the time to call a hedgehog rescue. Woodlands accept hedgehog 365 days a year and also have an evening intake if you are not able to get to them any earlier, simply call them on 01704 823293. If you are not local to Woodlands, contact the British Hedgehog Preservation Society and they will be able to point you in the direction of your local rescue.
OR, if the hog you have found has an obvious injury, they will require veterinary treatment. You will be able to take them along to your local vets and they will treat them as best they can. This treatment will not cost you anything because hedgehogs are wildlife.
The team at Woodlands are beginning once again to take bookings for educational opportunities for schools and local groups to show how some really simple actions they can take can make a huge difference to the worryingly declining numbers of native British Hedgehogs. Every hedgehog the animals rescue takes in has the potential to cost them in excess of £50. All of the lifesaving work they do is only possible because of the donations the receive.