News

Winter is coming – and this may mean that some hedgehogs who have not been able to find the right kind of food over the last few months may be underweight and struggling.

 

How do I know if a hedgehog is in trouble?

• It’s out in the day time – slow moving hedgehogs in the daytime are not normal
• It is not moving well – a sluggish or wobbly hedgehog in the open
• There are a flies buzzing around it – may indicate it is ill
• Small young hedgehogs out by themselves – may have lost their mother and need help

 

How can I help?

If you have found a hedgehog who looks to need rescuing there are some immediate things you can do to help:

• Use gardening gloves or a folded towel to collect it up, bring it indoors and put it in a high-sided box with an old towel or fleece in the bottom for the hedgehog to hide under.
• Fill a hot water bottle so that when it is wrapped in a towel there is a nice gentle heat coming through and put that in the bottom of the box with the hedgehog, ensuring it has room to get off the bottle should it get too warm. Make sure the bottle is always kept warm (if allowed to go cold it will chill the hedgehog and do more harm than good). During particularly hot weather providing heat may not be necessary.
• Put the box somewhere quiet.
• Offer meaty cat or dog food and fresh water

These steps will help the hedgehog warm up and give it the opportunity to stabilise.

 

Call the experts

Once you have a hedgehog in a safe place you should contact one of the groups who can help find someone able to offer the hedgehog specialised care – below are contact sites you can call for help:

The British Hedgehog Preservation Society

Web: https://www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk

Tel: 01584 890 801

 

Warwickshire Hedgehog rescue

Web: https://warwickshirehedgehogrescue.org/Contact-Us/

Tel: list of numbers on the contact page