Help our Hedgehogs this Autumn!
By Kate Brailsford and Karen Naylor, Wareham and Sandford Hedgehog Group
Give our funny, little native British mammal a fighting chance!
Hedgehog numbers in the UK are seriously in decline for various reasons – gardens paved over, mutilation from strimmers and mowers, drowning in garden ponds, slug pellets, road traffic accidents and human ignorance or indifference. But there are things we can ALL do to give this funny, little, native British mammal a fighting chance.
Hedgehog-Friendly Wareham & Sandford have been trying to raise awareness of how everyone can help hogs survive and thrive. We’ve worked on a Schools for Hogs project with local primary children, given talks to Brownies /Purbeck Gateway Club /Millie College and we’ve spoken to hundreds of people at various events, carnivals etc.
Dorset Mammal Group (our overarching charity) are also trying to set up a Hedgehog Hospital. This will take some pressure off existing hard-pressed Hedgehog Rescues who are very, very stretched, as well as supporting our wonderful local vets.
Autumn - a tricky time for hedgehogs!
Autumn is a tricky time for hedgehogs, as they try to gain weight for hibernation. It’s particularly tough for autumn juveniles, the second batch of hoglets that are born later in the season: autumn juveniles won’t survive the hibernation process unless they have reached at least 450 grammes.
These little, late hedgehogs aren’t sick; they don’t need to take up a place at a Rescue or be admitted to the hedgehog hospital (when it opens).What they need is high quality foster care where they will be kept warm, fed, watered and cleaned every day (similar to how you would care for a hamster), until they reach the minimum hibernation weight when they could potentially be realised back into the wild and be free to roam (foster hedgehogs must always remain wild animals NOT pets).
Developing a network of local foster carers is an exciting, fresh approach to how Dorset can best support their hedgehog populations at this time of year, however, it may not be suitable for or appeal to everyone.
As we approach autumn, here are 2 things EVERYONE can do to help hedgehogs:
- Halloween: please pick up any pumpkins afterwards– hogs love ‘em but they cause terrible diarrhoea, resulting in huge weight loss just before hibernation
- Guy Fawkes: remember to build your bonfire on the day you light it, to stop it becoming a funeral pyre for a hog that has unknowingly chosen it as a hibernation nest.
There are many different ways ALL OF US can help hedgehogs: if you want to learn more about how you could help please email:kate.brailsford.at@gmail.com
A big thanks to our supporters
Finally, thank you to all hedgehog supporters out there, particularly Lynwood Vets and Pet Health Partnership who take in our sick hogs without question and give us fantastic support which we very much appreciate. We look forward to continuing to work with them and our residents as we develop our foster care network and hospital.
Find out more about the Wareham and Sandford Hedgehog Group on our Love It Local Community Pages. Or follow the group on Facebook – Wareham and Sandford Hedgehogs.
