We have a new guest at Compost Mansions. A young Hedgehog! He was found wandering around the School Field and so we were asked to take him home, as we have reared hedgehog babies before. He was in a bad way from cold and lack of food and he is too young and small to make it through hibernation this winter and would die if he tried. He only weighs 150 g and ideally needs to be around 500g to make it through hibernation AND WAKE UP AGAIN ( very important, that last bit!)
So this poor, small, lost little baby needed help. Urgently.
He perked up a bit that evening when we put him in a spare rabbit cage we had in the shed, with a nice warm dark bed and cat meat to eat, and we thought we had sorted him out, but the next day he had started to wobble when he walked - never a good sign in an animal!
So, we brough the cage in the house, I put him in a box by the woodburner to warm up and then dropper fed him rehydration fluid.
And gave him a massage ( with all those spines, tricky, that! )
until he roused enough to eat a bit of mashed cat meat from my hand.
BTW, do NOT give bread and milk to hedgehogs as it is VERY bad for them!
He is now stuffing his face with cat food today and making a hell of a mess in the cage.....
We have called him "Spike".
Very cute CW!
ReplyDeleteSpike is a gorgeous little hoggy!!!
ReplyDeleteLovely photographs...........
Much Love, Jane xxxxxx
So cute! I wish we had hedgehogs.
ReplyDeleteSo adorable!!! I just love hedgehogs!
ReplyDeleteAwww, baby hedgepig!
ReplyDeleteNow that's cute! I rescued an echidna many years ago, they move like greased lightning when they think you aren't watching lol.
ReplyDeleteOh CJ.....now if I just had a £1 for everytime Ihad done that! lol. I have overwontered them in my kitchen of all places...not the best smell in the world hehehehe...but never the less, cutsy little people and keep the cats entertained no end. Hope he does really well and you have great success with him.
ReplyDeleteI'm bracing myself for the wonter intake ;o)
Sue xxx
Aww, my mother loves hedgehogs and saved/raised several like you're doing for Spike.
ReplyDeleteOh good luck! We rescued one last year, but she only survived a week - I realised a lot in hindsight and really should have given her to someone who knew what they were doing. I felt a bit guilty afterwards, but we did our best.
ReplyDeleteShe was the same weight as yours when we found her.
They are very cute aren't they! Her favourite place was under the woodburner!
Oh MY gOsh!
ReplyDeleteHow darn cute is that lil Hedgehog!!!!
I want one just like him/her...Well you are doing a great job and good on you for caring enough to raise this little darling
We have one which visits each night to raid the cat's food bowl under the verandah. Always comes at about 9.15pm - we are wondering how many more nights we will see him before he gets tucked up somewhere for the winter?!
ReplyDeleteWhat a heart warming story! He's just so adorable I'm glad he's got a fighting chance. I've also rescued a fair few critters along my way. It's always so wonderful when they make it :0D
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ReplyDeleteI hate to see us lose your input but I wonder if simply publishing articles with no comments enabled and having a members-only forum wouldn't be a good compromise. There's something about the immediacy of the response form and the lack of accountability available from anonymity (oh, hypocritical me) that seems to encourage people's awfulness.
ReplyDeleteThat aside, I think that a multiple-contributor blog would give you support and provide some other perspectives. You could combine this with your ideas on coaching/ghostwriting and work with 'intern' contributors to hone their skills, see their work supplying your site, and give them the tools they need to take your philosophies and understanding out on their own tangents. It might give you a regular supply of fresh, new writers and keep things going while allowing you to step back a little. (If you did go with the intern idea, drop me a line, will you? *g*)
ReplyDeletewell if I knew who you were, maybe I would.....
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