Hedgehog Cabin
@HedgehogCabin
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I operate a small hospital for sick, injured and orphaned wild hedgehogs. Donate https://t.co/wUQRQfPo5i Wishlist https://t.co/4UZ0T2FlAL Ambassador: @DrAmirKhanGP
Joined February 2018
When you see a hedgehog out in the day time please remember he's been sick for a long time before taking this last desperate step. He's dying. IT'S AN EMERGENCY. Take him indoors in the warmth and ring a rescue IMMEDIATELY. Find your nearest rescue here:
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I have a baby monitor out in the garden, so I can hear what's going on wherever I am indoors. Last night I heard coughing; really heart-breaking, wretched, painful coughing. I ran outside and stood still, listening. It was coming from a hedgehog house I built, years ago. It has
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Hedgehogs can live as long as dogs. But the sad reality is, very few are lucky enough to see their third birthday. Vinnie is a rare exception. Although it's impossible to accurately age a hedgehog, I would say he's close to 10 years old. This clever, resourceful old boy has
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This poor sad, depressed girl is Elodie. She's been so badly treated; used and exploited, by the very place her finder thought she could trust - a large wildlife rescue. Originally taken to the rescue because the finder heard her coughing, the rescue commented how well she
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This sweet boy turning his bath water into tea is Ambrose. Suffering from starvation and teeming with roundworm and deadly lungworm, he collapsed by a front doorstep, desperate for the residue heat from the house to keep his dying body warm. The house owner saw him there in the
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In loving memory of Milo. I post this every year at this time, in the hopes it may save some gentle trusting little animal's life. Please read Milo's story in the thread🧵below. Then please spread this information as far and as wide as you can. The more people who see it, the
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It happened!❤️.Last night, dear tiny little Hartley came out and ate for himself. Just 92g and so fragile, he had a little to eat and drink then (and I admit this broke me), he went back to bed and tried to tuck his sister Wintney back up. But she then got up too, and lapped a
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Little Willy. Found lying on a patio desperately trying to absorb the sun's heat into his dying little body. Starving, flyblown, fleas, lice, and constant diarrhoea that had dehydrated him so much his eyes had sunken. After a very tense 48hrs he's still critical, but transformed.
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Dear sweet Elodie. She is traumatised, but is slowly healing. She's gained 200g on the good food here, and this sight brought me to tears - .after 3 months of being locked away in a tiny box and denied all her natural instincts, she is finally able to exercise natural behaviour
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Hard to believe I know, but little baby Jennings, who was found dying, crouched between 2 compost bags coughing his little heart out, too weak to make a nest, will be going home today. 3 weeks ago he was so terribly sick, but after treatment for lungworm, roundworm, fluke and
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There was a terrible smell coming from pen number 4, in the lodge. I knew no one was living there, because nothing had moved; it was spotless still from the last clean, and the food in there had been untouched for 3 days. When I opened the house, where the terrible smell was
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I'm so sorry to say but darling Wilford has been euthanised. While under the anaesthetic a large tumour was found in his bladder, which had spread to his spine. So he wasn't woken from the anaesthesia. Sleep well, you good brave boy. All your trials are over.
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You'll never guess what - I've been invited to Buckingham Palace! Yes, little old me has been invited to the King's first official Royal Garden Party. How amazing is that? It's so lovely of them. What an incredible honour, and the very highest recognition. I'm so excited.
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This is the importance of hedges. If you have them, please keep them. Unlike fences they won't blow down, won't ever need painting or mending, and they protect and sustain our precious wildlife. This is Arthur at dawn, leaving Hedgehog Cabin where there are over 20 houses and
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The phone is still ringing all day long. Folk reporting hedgehogs seen out in the day. Most casualties are just babies. And every single one is suffering from sickness caused from starvation. The callers are shocked. They think hedgehogs love slugs, which are plentiful.
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There are still lots of late born hoglets being seen out in the day. Please remember these little babies are sick. It's the parasites living inside them that have driven them out in the day. No amount of warmth, love, or food will fix them. If you keep them they will die. They
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Such lovely good news! .Handsome boy Arthur has the twinkle of life and hope back in his eye this morning!.He smells SO much better, and he even gained a little weight. I am so happy that our darling boy has triumphed over adversity once again. Please remember, a hedgehog out in
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These vulnerable little animals are in trouble. They're red-listed, on the edge of extinction. We simply can't tolerate this. Please help by leaving your garden as wild as possible so their food (beetles and caterpillars) can thrive. For lifesaving help:
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She did it!.This dear little kid, Figgy, who has been teetering on the brink of death for 4 days, whose mouth has been too painful and nose too congested to feed, finally laps a little food (soaked and strained Royal Canin Mother & Babycat). I'm so happy.🥲
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He did it!.Dear little Hobo can walk!.When he was just 3 weeks old this poor baby was bitten so hard and deeply by a dog that one tooth punctured his back almost through to his stomach. This bite crushed Hobo's thigh bone so completely that it was invisible to x-ray - his leg
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Are you busting to mow your lawn?.Please don't. Wait a month. Right now the hedgehog's future meals are overwintering in that long grass. And our future depends on the pollinators, whose first precious meal comes from the dandelions you'll allow to grow. The future is unmown.
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To all those who risk their lives to protect vulnerable animals, .to all those who risk their reputation or finances by speaking out against animal abuse, .to all those who take in and mend the broken and lay to rest the weary, .to all those who feed the hungry and love the
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Yesterday Gracie and Ben's finders heard another baby crying, in the undergrowth behind their garden. They searched and found a poor shaking baby dragging himself along using his front legs; his back legs trailing behind. He was covered in blood and swarms of flies. They
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This poor sick little girl is Ersa, named after the Greek goddess of the morning dew - which I'd hope she'd live to see when I took her in last night. She was spotted out in the daytime, lying in the road at 1pm. Any hedgehog out in the day is extremely sick, and needs to be
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Our humble garden hedgehog once walked with sabre toothed tigers and hairy mammoths. It has survived, unchanged, for over 15 million years, despite persecution and hardships. We must not be the generation who finally wipes out this stoic little creature.
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Darling brave boy Arthur is now beautifully healed. His stinking infected strimmer wound, which came so close to killing him, took so long to drain, and so much nursing, and through it all he was the sweetest, most patient patient!.But he's all mended now, and off for a second
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This poor boy self admitted. I don't know him, he's not an ex-patient, but a week ago he moved into a house outside the winter cabin, which has a feeder next door. He's been living in there, only coming out to eat, then going straight back to bed. That's not normal behaviour for
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@elonmusk Whatever you've done is hurting genuine users and is having a negative knock-on effect to verified users. My followers can't like my tweets because they've hit a limit of liking. See how mad that is? .You've actually stopped folk being able to express their positive feelings.
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Dear little Palmer is starting to feel a lot better. The drugs are reducing his skin inflammation and he's much more comfortable. The treatment baths to kill off the ringworm spores also soothe the terrible itching from the mange he's been suffering. He really is a sweetheart,
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I've had 7 phone calls this morning already, all saying the same thing - "I found a little hedgehog out in the day so I brought her home and I've got her in a box. She's fine really, just hungry, because she's eating well, shall I just release her in the garden?".Please remember
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Darling Nelson is responding well to treatment. His coughing has stopped, and judging by his bright shiny eyes and smiley little face, he's feeling a lot better today.🥰.He has another 10 days of treatment to go, then he will be released back to the wild, for a second chance at
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I'm so happy to say that darling Ambrose, the poor starving boy who in his dying hours dragged himself to the finder's doorstep and was left there all day (the finder had no idea that hedgehogs out in the day are an emergency), has recovered fully and has been released back to
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Hedgehogs have survived, unchanged, for 15 million years. 15 million years!.Just think - our humble little garden visitors once walked with woolly mammoths and sabre-toothed tigers. They survived so well because they are intelligent, adaptable, courageous and problem-solving.
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Darling Bunty is back as a patient.😊She self admitted, moving into the cabin when all other hogs are moving out into the woods, where it's cooler. Knowing she always returns when she needs help, I tested her poo and found she has internal parasites. Bunty was born here June 2021
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❤️To all those who take in and mend the broken and lay to rest the weary.❤️To all those who risk their lives to protect vulnerable animals.❤️To all those who risk their reputation or finances by speaking out against animal abuse.❤️To all those who feed the hungry and love the
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Asa update 3/3. Asa slept until 2pm. When she woke, she again tried to ‘eat’ the dish of formula, so I brought her in and hand fed her. What a different reaction! Oh I was dancing inside, seeing this baby so eager for food. I switched from formula to more age-appropriate mouse
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There are still lots of late born hoglets being seen out in the day. Please remember these little babies are sick. No amount of warmth, love, or food will fix them. They need medicines and experienced nursing from a knowledgeable rescue (never a vet). They may seem to pick up
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A little update on poor darling Theo, who self admitted here on Saturday with the most horrific wounds to his feet. Both his back feet have been partially degloved. The left foot is down to the bone, and is severely infected. This kind of trauma is consistent with him being
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Poor Fat Frank is wet breathing: as a result of the heavy infestation of lungworm he has fluid on his lungs, so each exhalation he makes contains much more moisture than healthy breathing. This means if he was in a house or a nest in the wild, his bedding would quickly become
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I am thrilled to announce that the lovely @DrAmirKhanGP has become Hedgehog Cabin's official ambassador. A talented devoted GP, best-selling author, everyone's favourite telly doctor and a very good, kind, humble man who is a passionate advocate for hedgehogs. I'm so proud.
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Today Leah's babies are 11 days old. I know this because they can curl. It's one of the very few developmental milestones in a hedgehog's life that can accurately determine age. It's precisely at 11 days old that the obicularis muscle, which runs around the hedgehog's body where
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Easter is traditionally the time folks decide to go out and 'tackle the garden'. (As if that wonderful little piece of nature is an enemy that needs dominating). And Easter is traditionally the time that all wildlife rescues dread, as they are overwelmed by devastated people
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Darling Dudley, who self-admitted here to the hospital at 420g with a terrible cough and a chest full of lungworm, is now sucessfully treated, 930g, and free to return to the wild. But he's decided to stay.😊.Seen here when he first arrived, so sick he could barely sleep or eat
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New Year's Eve fireworks. Just don't. Please. It's so cruel.
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This happy little boy is Hobo! He's looking a lot better now the pain of his wounds is receding. I'm still hand feeding him with a syringe every 3 hours, and he's now moved on from milk formula to slop (soaked and sieved Royal Canin Mother and Babycat biscuits). They all have
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Sweet old Henley. This poor boy was so gravely ill. He had an horrific strimmer wound running from the top of his front leg across his shoulder and throat. I had to bath him to soak away the thick layers of dried blood, just so I could examine the wound. He also had pneumonia and
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Some lovely news! 😊.Darling Theo didn't get up last night, so he's started the hibernation process. This means he now feels well enough to hibernate, and content enough to do that here, and I'm so happy!🥹
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You wouldn't know it but this poor hedgehog is in agony. He's making his way to the hospital to self admit. Watch how he walks when he's out in the open, when he has to be careful not to show any weakness to any watching would-be predators. Then compare how he walks once he
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This poor sweet boy is Wilford. Discovered out in the daytime at the edge of a pond, where he'd dragged himself to get a drink, then found the pain too much to bear, so was unable to return home. Luckily, the dog walker who found him called one of my 'regular' finders, and this
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This is darling Dudley. He's this summer's baby and extremely ill, absolutely teeming with lungworm. Fortunately, little Dudley was clever enough to follow the scent of the well-fed healthy hedgehogs who visit my garden's feeding stations. I saw him on several cameras, like a kid
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Yet another dying baby, starving, covered in ticks and fly eggs, found drowning in a water feature. I gave him first aid, made him comfortable, named him Puddle, and waited. He slept for 19hours, with me checking for signs of life every 2hrs. And then this happens.
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So many calls over the weekend and today regarding disturbed nests and abandoned babies. These poor little hoglets, just 18 days old, are Gracie and Ben. They were seen out on a patio crying and very distressed. The finders sought advice and were told (wrongly) to leave them
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Just a very quick Arthur update. I haven't got him up yet, as his meds aren't due for a couple of hours, but this was his pen this morning. I haven't had time to watch back the CCTV of his night, but I hardly need to:.The food dish tells me he's eating. The wee tells me he's
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Darling old boy Henry has defied the odds and survived. All treatments have now finished so last night he spent his first night in his very own brand new Riverside house, which his kind finders bought and sent here. Judging by the lovely long lazy stretch he does as he gets back
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Well done everyone! Ferber have removed the mammal poisons from their website page. Thank you so much for all your support and encouragement, for all those emails you wrote, the calls you made, the retweeting - together we achieved a great thing, and saved precious lives.
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Poor little orphans Hartley and Wintney are still not robust, but they are a lot less delicate than when they arrived, dying, freezing and flyblown. They've responded well to medication and intensive care and now eat for themselves and have started to gain a little weight. Oh
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If this doesn't put a smile on your face, nothing will. Just look at this happy little baby!🥹.This is the same day I cut Parish free; his first night. The little darling can drink and drink to his heart's content, without feeling strangled, without pain or fear of choking. His
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Aero was such a sad little hedgehog, only 420g and so desperately ill; struggling for each breath through lungs bubbling with fluid. Today he's a hearty 890g and full of life and energy, and raring to get back out to the wild and have a second chance at life. He'll be going home
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Our humble garden hedgehog once walked with sabre toothed tigers and hairy mammoths. It has survived, unchanged, for over 15 million years, despite persecution and hardships. We must not be the generation who finally wipes out this stoic little creature.
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A quick update on poor baby Asa, the dog-attacked hoglet poisoned with an overdose of painkillers by the vet: .Her internal bleeding has stopped. Her eye is healing but still closed, so I won't know if it is viable or not for another week or so. She's learned to eat by herself
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Dear little Dudley has finally stopped coughing and is feeling a lot brighter. He's started piling on the pounds in the race to prepare himself for hibernation and ate an entire dish of food last night - enough for two grown hogs!😁.Although his life-threatening pneumonia is on
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Beautiful Belina, once so desperately ill, is now looking as good and healthy outside as she is inside. Here she is watching me draw up her last injection. Belina finished her treatment today so, as she self admitted and is a local girl, I've given her a choice of beds in the
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Now the temperature is dropping it's more likely you will see sick hedgehogs who were struggling to survive and just about making it through, begining to lose the battle and come out in the day time. They come out because they are dying, and hypothermia is a stage of the process.
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There are lots of late born baby hedgehogs around at the moment. If they are out at night, that's fine. Please leave them be, out in the wild, and provide what they need - clean water and a dish of dry kitten food each night. There's plenty of time for them to grow and you will
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This beautifully rounded, perfectly healthy hedgehog weighing almost 700g, and with a cheeky sparkle of life in her eyes is, believe it or not, baby Gypsy. I never thought I'd see this day. I've been doing this a long time, and have treated hundreds, probably thousands by now,
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This sweet innocent boy Leo, who admitted himself into the hospital 4 weeks ago, trusting I would fix him, is now all mended and ready to start his second chance at life in the wild. I don't know where he lives as he made his own way here, so I've released him in one of the open
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Every day I'm taking so many calls from people who have seen a hedgehog coming out in the open in the day, and have done nothing for 2, sometimes 3 days, because they'd read somewhere that it's normal, it's what hedgehog mums do. This is so wrong and it's killing so many sick
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It's been 2 weeks now, since darling Theo self admitted with degloved feet, and as he is so kindly showing us, his poor feet now have a thin, superficial covering of skin, with the deeper damage still healing. It's obviously not enough for him to be able to walk on comfortably
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The phone is still ringing all day long. Folk reporting hedgehogs seen out in the day. Most casualties are just babies. And every single one is suffering from sickness caused from starvation. The callers are shocked. They think hedgehogs love slugs, which are plentiful. They
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This is baby Nately. Found out in the day, so already dying, and taken home by the finder. A wonderful, kind, and compassionate act. But then the good intentions went bad. Instead of getting him straight to a rescue to be treated urgently, as the emergency that he, and any
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This is a journey of hope, courage, determination, and complete victory over adversity. With a dog destroying their nest, helpless little babies Gracie and Ben were found deathly cold, flyblown, distressed and crying for their mum. It wasn't until the next day that little Hobo
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This darling little baby is Bess, and she's just 130g. Her finder spotted her running down the middle of the road and thankfully grabbed her. She is absolutely emaciated and was so dehydrated I had trouble finding enough viable skin to get a needle in to subcutaneously hydrate
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I'm so happy to report that tiny baby Noa, suffering from malnutrition and stunted growth, has gained weight two days running now!.She even tried a little shy bit of nest building, which had me grinning and grizzling like an idiot.😁
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Male hedgehogs go into hibernation about a month before females, so right now they are looking for safe dry places to build their hibernaculum. Please close all doors at night: to your house, garage, shed, greenhouse, etc, unless you're willing to leave them open all winter, to
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Sweet girl Toto, who admitted herself to hospital when dying of fluke and lungworm, is now successfully treated and full of vitality. As she is clearly a local girl, I released her here, from the lodge pen she booked herself into, so she could choose whether to go back home, or
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Darling baby Ersa is still feeling ill, but is slowly showing signs of recovery, I'm delighted to say. She gained weight for the first time - a whole 20g this morning, which is excellent progress. And yes, I did a happy dance.😁.While crying.😁.
This poor sick little girl is Ersa, named after the Greek goddess of the morning dew - which I'd hope she'd live to see when I took her in last night. She was spotted out in the daytime, lying in the road at 1pm. Any hedgehog out in the day is extremely sick, and needs to be
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Just a quick update on darling Henley, who has so many lovely people worried about him. He is settled and calm, and had a good night with some meds on board that help him breathe and ease his pain. This morning I gave him a Hibiscub bath, to soak all the caked dry blood off his
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With so much in the world to make you angry and upset, it's worth remembering that most people are good and kind, and are quietly going about their day performing unsung acts of heroism and generosity of spirit. Thank you to everyone who is feeding their visiting wildlife, and to
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There are lots of starving baby hedgehogs around now, walking great distances, crossing roads, in search of food. Getting home 10 minutes later because you drove slowly won’t make that much difference to you, but it could make all the difference in the world to a hoglet.
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Two dear little hedgehogs, who were brought into a rescue I mentor, and who were expertly nursed back to health and released, were found dead yesterday. Poisoned. The devastated finder had no idea that compost bins are dangerous to animals (and can be to humans too) and should
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Do you know what these pictures are of?.These are pictures of you walking past litter in the street and tutting, then going home to sweep up and burn all the leaves so your lawn looks tidy. These are pictures of you complaining to the council that they haven't cut the stinging
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We've all done it - .you fall out of bed then style it out, pretending you were getting up for a snack anyway.😁
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When the king invited me to Buckingham Palace earlier this year, to thank me for my work. Nope, that's it. No anecdote. Just wanted to say it again.😁
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There are still lots of late born hoglets being seen out in the day. Please remember these little babies are sick. It's the parasites living inside them that have driven them out in the day. No amount of warmth, love, or food will fix them. If you keep them they will die.
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Darling little Gideon is responding well to the treatment and recovering from his internal parasites, so is now strong enough to begin a course of medicated baths. Ringworm, despite its name, is a fungal disease - the same as Athlete's Foot. It's not life threatening but is
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I'm delighted to say that dear little boy Ambrose is now alert, and very much back with us, in the land of the living. His nose is still a bit snotty and bubbly, as you can see (sorry about the video quality, my bodycam is on the blink, after years of faithful service), but he's
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Although Ida is still weak and sick, her breathing has improved dramatically and she's stopped coughing. She has a good appetite and is walking to the toilet instead of pooing her bed now (hooray!). But the best sign of returning good health is that new sparkle of hope in her eye
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Unlike most mammals, hedgehogs don't have the Flight or Fight Response to danger. So no matter how frightened they are, they don't bite, and they don't run away. Their response to danger is to curl up into a protective ball and wait until the danger passes. That's why so many
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Darling Layla, who was so full of deadly fluke and lungworm, has now finished her treatment and is perfectly healthy. She's a local girl, so I'll release her from my garden, where she can go straight back home if she wants, or stay around in a nice safe pen until she feels
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I'm just tickled pink to be able to let you all know that I've been shortlisted by the panel of judges as a finalist for the #BBCMakeADifference award 2024.🥳.The winner will be announced at the Awards Ceremony in September. Eeek! So exciting! It's been killing me keeping it
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Sweet Gideon has finished his treatment and is now clear of the huge burden of internal parasites he was suffering from, and his ringworm has been treated. His broken leg has mended well and his walk has improved slightly. But his coping mechanism to deal with the pain of the
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This tiny little baby girl is Noa. Noa weighs just 99 grams. She's suffering from severe malnutrition and starvation because we've destroyed her natural food. She should be stuffing herself with caterpillars, but look around. How many butterflies have you seen this year?.Until
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Believe it or not, this gorgeous cheeky girl with sparkling eyes and healthy glossy coat, weighing in at 605g, is baby Noa!.Just a 99g little scrap of life four weeks ago, barely holding onto life, Noa is now treated, perfectly healthy and raring to go. Now this heatwave and
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Dear old Henry is going home tomorrow. There's a nice window of milder weather for him to get acclimatised to outdoor living again. He'll be in his very own house, wild and free in a garden where food/water is available every night. Godspeed sweet boy.
We tend to judge all animal behaviour by what we've learned about those we know - our pets. They are our only frame of reference. So when we see a hedgehog out in the day, even if we've read somewhere that this means they are seriously ill, we like to prove ourselves right -
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Darling old Henry. Today he gained 32g and you can see from his eyes that although still sick, he is feeling so much better, and is back in the world of the living. He's halfway through his treatment for lungworm, roundworm and fluke. He's free of ticks (and yes, it does take a
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Pumpkins. Halloween is one night. If you have to waste a food item (and I strongly suggest you don't), please put it out for one night, then dispose of it. Please DO NOT put it out for the wildlife. Once you've handled it, cut it, left it out in the open, unrefrigerated, it will
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Poor little Dolly doesn't have a home, was never lucky enough to find a garden with kindness and food. She was found starving to death out on a common. Today her treatment ends and I gave her a brand new house filled with clean warm hay, and will find her a home in the spring.
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Dear baby Noa. Seeing her busy nest-making before her bedtime like this fills me with such peace and joy and hope. It's such a natural, normal behaviour for a healthy baby hedgehog. But for a little hoglet like Noa, who has suffered such extreme deprivation and starvation, and
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Hedgehogs hibernated early last year and I'm hearing from people all over the country that they're already waking up. This is catastrophic! .It's far too early for there to be any natural food around so they will either starve or succumb to parasites. Please provide cat food.
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There are still lots of late born hoglets being seen out in the day. Please remember these little babies are sick. It's the parasites living inside them that have driven them out in the day. No amount of warmth, love, or food will fix them. If you keep them they will
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