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JERSEY HEDGEHOG PRESERVATION GROUP
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01534 734340 druburdon@jerseymail.co.uk
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To receive our newsletter please email druburdon@jerseymail.co.uk
WINTER 2011 A Happy New Year to you all! It has been a very busy winter with a total of 199 hogs being admitted in the last three months of 2010. The early cold spell brought small hedgehogs out in daylight, which were then picked up by members and the general public. If the weather had been milder many of those found at night in people’s gardens would not have been taken into care, the finders would have been asked to feed them in their gardens. So we have had a hogjam of lots of similarly sized hogs! This caused an accommodation shortage and inmates had to share their beds with others found in the same area. We are pleased to say that this has now resolved itself and everyone has enough space to themselves again! As the weather became milder at the end of December we were able to release the biggest hogs back to where they came from. HEDGEHOG NEWS ADMISSIONS FOR THE LAST QUARTER: OCTOBER ADMISSIONS 49 DEATHS 19 RELEASES 27 NOVEMBER ADMISSIONS 97 DEATHS 22 RELEASES 15 DECEMBER ADMISSIONS 53 DEATHS 9 RELEASES 6 You will see from the above that this year’s crop of youngsters are a healthy lot, there have been relatively few deaths. We have been very lucky that there has not been much diarrhoea amongst them, as they had to share accommodation at the start of their stay and this could have spread between nest-mates. Tag Returns -We have had 8 tagged hogs return for care this autumn. One was a youngster from 2008 who also came back for treatment in 2009, she died in care this time. Another adult from 2009, returned earlier this autumn for another spell in care, but was found again in December, he has a chronic bad chest and is still in care. A youngster from 2009 returned this autumn, he has recently died in care. The other 5 are all returnees from this summer, 2 have been released again and the other 3 are still in care. Leg Injuries- Netting: One unlucky youngster got caught in a football net which made her front leg swell, it wouldn’t straighten at first, but it put itself right in time and she is now hibernating in care. Dog bites : Another youngster was bitten by a dog which broke her hind leg, because she was so young this also healed itself without any veterinary treatment. An older hog was not so lucky, his encounter with a dog left him with a dislocation fracture to a back leg. The vets bandaged the leg and after 3 weeks it had healed sufficiently to need no further support. This is a really good result, because the leg was completely round the wrong way and we thought it would have to be amputated which would have meant keeping the hog in captivity for the rest of its life, so the vets have given him back his freedom. Winter Routine -If you see a hedgehog out at night in winter, don’t assume they should all be hibernating, especially during a mild spell. During hibernation they wake up about every 7 -10 days in their nests and may or may not come out to forage and then go back to bed. So if you do see a big hedgehog in your garden at night, a bowl of cat or dog food and some water will be welcome. You can always put some dry cat biscuits under a wooden box with a 4” square hole in one side. So the food will not be wasted if no visitors appear for several nights. If you think that the hedgehog is too small to survive the rest of the winter, pick it up with gloves, weigh it on your kitchen scales (using an old ice cream/margarine tub as a scale pan) and give us a ring if it weighs less than 450g. If it is more than 450g and is unhurt and looks well, please put it back where you found it. ANY HEDGEHOG SEEN OUT IN DAYLIGHT unless its nest has just been disturbed, will be in trouble and will need help. Please put it in a deep box in a warm room with some food and water and ring us as soon as you can. Some injuries are not obvious and if hogs are hurt, they may well come out in the day.
We have an account at the Co-op if you would like to donate your divi our share number is: 325001 |
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