Hi Antique
So sorry to hear about the poor hog. You did your best for it. But you are right, things might happen occasionally, even in a hedgehog friendly garden. But just remember the cause of the problem may not have happened in your garden.
It is interesting, although not unusual, that it made it’s way to the feeding station when it was so poorly. It may be that it saw that as a safe space, so tried to get there. Similarly it may have seen it as a place where it had received help. I guess we will never know. All I can say is that I have had two hogs, at different times, which had life threatening strimmer injuries and both made their way to my feeding area, from I know not where. To be honest, I don’t know how either of them managed to make it here. One had to be euthanased, but the other, with the care of the amazing people at our local wildlife hospital survived and after a couple of months was able to be released back home. Sad that it didn’t work out for the little one there, this time, but sometimes they just can’t be helped.
You may already have seen this, but in case not:
https://www.hedgehogstreet.org/garden-wildlife-health-gwh/
I know it’s sad, but don’t forget to log the poor hog on the Big Hedgehog Map (accessed via the Home page of Hedgehog Street). I always think it’s a sort of memorial to that hog and it might make a difference to hogs as a whole.
Really pleased to hear that there are other healthy looking visitors. Hopefully some more will return quite soon and, as you say, fingers crossed for babies later on.
