Page 14 - Thrapston Life October 2023

HEDGEHOG CARE
in Thrapston
We share our streets and back gardens with a secret community of hedgehogs in Thrapston. This mirrors what has happened around the country: hogs have moved into the towns where they forage, away from predators like badgers. Within 100 yards of the town centre, on any given evening, there are hedgehogs exploring the network of gardens.
I became involved with their care when I realised I had regular visitors. I started leaving food and water out for them, watched them feed and started to learn their habits.
One autumn, I saw a tiny one out during
the day, just sitting on my lawn. It was very ill, underweight and coughing. I took him to the vets, they organised treatment and I was given
a new project: Operation Hoglet, to overwinter him and nurse him back to health. It was a steep learning curve but left me with an enduring love for the little critters.
Hedgehogs start having pregnancies soon after they emerge from hibernation in April and the average litter is 4-6 hoglets. They are weaned at six weeks, weigh roughly 100g or 4oz then and grow to 800g to 1200g over the summer. Late pregnancies can result in hoglets being born in September, too late to gain enough weight to successfully hibernate. These autumn juveniles are susceptible to infection and are usually the small ones you see out in the day in late October, staggering around or lying on the lawn. Most of these would die without
a dedicated army of volunteers to
overwinter them.
Some people gain qualifications and
training to be able to look after the
tiny babies who need milk feeds. I just overwinter the young teenagers. They usually need input from vets to get rid of any infection initially e.g. lungworm or ticks. Often, I need to send off a stool sample to the animal hospitals that analyse poo for parasites – this needs careful packing! Or I may have to give vitamin injections or antibiotics.
The hoglets need warmth: they don’t have
the body fat to do this themselves, so they
have guinea pig cages next to the radiator in
the dining room. Nobody would ever keep the European Hedgehog as a pet. They smell and they trail through their food and water bowls, happily peeing (or worse) in both. They have minimal handling or human interaction and are only weighed once a day maximum to check their progress, as they mustn’t get used to us. They are brilliant nest builders, the newspapers from the tray will be chewed up every night,
They are brilliant nest builders
mixed with hay to roll up in and they add to this over the winter.
Hogs are like plants. They need hardening off before they can be released. Once they are infection free and a weight of 650g+, they are moved
to my unheated cellar and encouraged to hibernate. As in the wild, they can wake up and feed every couple of days or sleep for a week at a time. They rarely go longer than this which is why it is important to leave food out in winter for any adults to access.
Look out for Part 2 in a future edition.
14