August 2011 Aimee's Story

Special Delivery! Aimee – named after the vet nurse who found her and notified the Hospital – came in with a neck wound caused by plastic netting. Fortunately, the wound was superficial and healed well. We were about to release her back to her home in King's Stanley, when she stopped feeding, and didn't emerge from her box as she usually did in the evening. Suspicions aroused, on June 9th, John listened closely and heard squeaking sounds! Aimee had given birth to six healthy hoglets. Apart from checking to make sure they were warm and comfortable, we disturbed them as little as possible.

Aimee resumed her healthy appetite for mealworms, crunchy cat biscuits and dog food.

Ten days old

At ten days old, the hoglets looked much like spiky little conkers, but by three weeks, their eyes were open and they looked like miniature versions of mum.

Three weeks old

In the wild, the mother would normally lead her babies out to start learning to forage at about five weeks, abandoning them altogether at about eight weeks. The young hedgehogs then disperse and lead solitary lives, except for mating. As this litter was confined to a pen, the mother was unable to forage for them as she would in the wild, but they have learnt to find the food left for them and have been feeding on mealworms, and cat crunchies.

Aimee has been a very good mother and was still snuggling up to the youngsters, even when they were eight weeks old. Aimee has now returned to the garden in King's Stanley, where she was originally found, and the young hedgehogs have gone to new homes in Paganhill and Rodborough. They have been released in groups of three, two girls from one litter, and a boy from another, in the hope that they will be able to form new breeding colonies next spring. Two more of this litter will go to Minchinhampton.

Six weeks old.

Eight weeks old.

The Help a Hedgehog Hospital is currently developing a patch of land to serve as a pre-release training area, for young hedgehogs like these to learn to forage for themselves in a safe environment, before they are released into the wild. We are hoping to be able to release young hedgehogs into this facility, when the work is completed, which has been funded by our generous supporters.
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Julien Crowther Hedgehog carer.

August 2010 Update on Horatio

You may remember Horatio, our first hoglet rescue of the year, who arrived at the hospital weighing 90g and suffering from dehydration and hypothermia. He went from strength to strength and has now been moved into Pauhla’s garden along with Elle and Emma where they will start the process of learning to forage for themselves. Because they were hand-reared, they are not very fearful of people and other animals, although Pauhla says the girls do take offence very quickly if disturbed and march off huffing and hissing and will eventually roll up which is a good sign. By leaving them alone, avoiding handling them where possible and making sure that she only puts food out when they are not awake so that they stop associating people with being fed, they are gradually making the transition to the wild. Horatio now weighs nearly 1kg and the girls are over 500g each so it won’t be long before they will be ready for release. This is a wonderful example of how 3H works and how with care, knowledge, and teamwork, we can get hedgehogs back to the wild where they belong!

April 2010
What happens in Spring and Summer?

In March or April our spiky friends are awake and frantically trying to build up their weight that they will have lost during hibernation they now need to replenish body reserves ready for when courtship begins. They need to attract a mate. Finding a Mate. Male hedgehogs find a female by following her scent. He walks around her in circles at first until she allows him to mate. This may take a long time because the sow often raises her spines and bites the boar when he gets too close. The boar leaves after mating and takes no part in rearing the young. About four weeks after mating, the hoglets are born. By the time they are one year old, hedgehogs are ready to breed. Spring Hedgehog Facts Hedgehog survival is in our hands; we can help them at essential times like the Spring and Autumn. N.B. Always use gloves or an item of clothing to handle hedgehogs with Key things to remember

• Hedgehogs do NOT hibernate in the open.
• Very small hedgehogs in winter need rescuing and help from a
  professional should be sought
• Hedgehogs are nocturnal so those out in the day NEED rescuing

A Message from Annie

Please can you be hedgehog aware and help me to put hedgehogs back on the map in Gloucestershire? If you find any hedgehogs out in the day, they are in need of urgent help. They may look fine and be rushing about, but actually they are probably hours from death, severely dehydrated and starving to death. Place hedgehog wrapped in a towel into a secure cardboard box and contact Help a Hedgehog Hospital. I will look after them and release back into the Wild as soon as they are better. Often in the Summer you might come across road traffic casualties or victims of dog attacks. Please phone me ASAP. Thank you all for your help.

December 2009 Announcing the “Friends of 3H”

As we have so many kind and dedicated supporters we felt that it was important to find a way of keeping you all informed and making you feel part of the team and so we are proud to announce the launch of the “Friends of 3H” group. For an annual membership feel you can join as an adult, junior or family and will receive a fantastic membership pack including a certificate, car sticker, emergency hedgehog information card, badge and a quarterly newsletter. Junior members have their own newsletter and family members will receive both versions. For more information, go to the membership page

Autumn 2009 School Helps with Hedgehog project

Thomas Keble Secondary School in Gloucestershire is also supporting the environmental project and Year 10 and 11 CoPE pupils are linking the endangered hedgehog to their environmental studies. The pupils chose the name for the Hospital. Pupils are currently working on creating a questionnaire mapping sightings of hedgehogs in Gloucestershire. They all enjoyed their close encounter with some of the hedgehogs at the Rescue Centre. Most of the pupils had never come face to face with a hedgehog before.