Got Calvin back.
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Got a text message on New Year’s day from the hedgehog rescue centre, asking if I could pick up Calvin that same evening.
So I picked him up from a foster, who has got 11 hogs all in outdoor hutches, and volunteer’s for the rescue centre.
She told me Calvin is now 800g, but has been scratching at the hutch cage door and they were worried he would hurt himself. She said as it’s forcast to be mild, he needed to be released ASAP before he hurts himself.
So anyway, had the money to give them £35 for the hedgehog house (which money goes straight to the rescue centre), but they refused the money, saying that they sometimes give a house away for free when they release a hedgehog that they’ve been looking after (so they gave me a hedgehog house), and on top of that, they gave me 5 pouches of wet cat food, one pair of surgical gloves, they had also filled the house up with hay, and a box which Calvin got transported in which was also full of hay, and a paper plate to put the first night’s food in the entrance of the house.
How good is that? I’m so impressed with them.
Anyway, I followed their advice on putting Calvin back into my garden.
He stayed in the house for a long time, probably scared out of his life due to the car journey. But eventually, I saw that he has scoffed the whole plate of food (it was one full pouch) but then scarpered off somewhere.
The following night, only Sapphire had come out to eat a small chunck of the dried food in the feeding station, but no sign of Calvin and the wet food untouched.
However, last night, the feeding station was in quite a mess, all the wet food gone, and a lot of dried food had been eaten.
At present, only Sapphire comes out once a night, mostly when I’m in bed, and goes straight back to her nest, she never eats wet food, and she’s a tidy eater. So obviously Calvin has found the food and must be nearby.
I haven’t actually seen Calvin yet.
He definitely isn’t staying in the hedgehog house that the rescue centre has given me. But it’s quite mild now, and he’s a big hedgehog, so he’s no doubt found a hedgehog built nest and staying in there.
At least I know he’s okay, and he’s found the food.
Sweetpea is only 600g so won’t be released until late April now.
Sapphire was a hoglet, but as she settled nearest to the feeding station, she didn’t need rescuing, as she was nearing 500g when I weighed her 2 mths ago, she now looks massive (saw her last night).
Sapphire never drinks the water though , is this because it’s winter, or isn’t because she doesn’t like it, Is this something I should be concerned about?
Hi Hedgie Lover
Glad to hear you have Calvin back.
Re. Saphire. Hogs do need to drink water, but it may be, at this time of the year, that she has been able to find water elsewhere. I would keep supplying water, though, in case any alternative water source dries up or becomes inaccessible.
I’m not sure why the rescue would say Sweetpea, now weighing 600g can’t be released until late April. I suggest you draw their attention to guidance-on-releasing-rehabilitated-hedgehogs/ and make sure that they have the information contained in the paper referred to.
At the moment the Forum is misbehaving and doesn’t seem to want to take a post with a link in it. But you will find the appropriate information, if you go to:
Help Hedgehogs – Frequently Asked Questions – Can a hedgehog be released from rehabilitation during winter? Yes!p.s. This is a copy of the conclusion to the paper referred to above:
“Conclusion
In conclusion, this study is the first to compare overwinter survival and behaviour of wild and rehabilitated hedgehogs and demonstrate that rehabilitated hedgehogs survive well if released in winter and exhibit natural behaviours of nest building, while changes in weight are similar to wild counterparts. Based on these findings, we recommend that wildlife rehabilitators can release rehabilitated hedgehogs during winter if the criteria used for release are similar to those used in this study. That is, hedgehogs should weigh over 600 g, have passed a veterinary health check, are soft-released in areas where the individuals were originally found or suburban areas without main roads and badgers, and during periods of mild weather (> 0 °C) over winter. Following these guidelines will reduce the periods of captivity for rehabilitated hedgehogs and allow them to reintegrate into their natural habitats as soon as possible, improving their welfare, whilst reducing the costs of care for the wildlife rehabilitators.”
Hi Hedgie Lover
I’m going to try to send this reply in two parts, because the last time it didn’t work.
Glad to hear you have Calvin back.
Re. Saphire. Hogs do need to drink water, but it may be, at this time of the year, that she has been able to find water elsewhere. I would keep supplying water, though, in case any alternative water source dries up or becomes inaccessible.
I’m not sure why the rescue would say Sweetpea, now weighing 600g can’t be released until late April. I suggest you draw their attention to: https://www.hedgehogstreet.org/guidance-on-releasing-rehabilitated-hedgehogs/ and make sure that they have the information contained in this paper: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10344-018-1244-4
Hi Hedgie Lover
Glad to hear you have Calvin back.
Re. Saphire. Hogs do need to drink water, but it may be, at this time of the year, that she has been able to find water elsewhere. I would keep supplying water, though, in case any alterntive water source dries up or becomes inaccessible.
I’m not sure why the rescue would say Sweetpea, now weighing 600g can’t be released until late April. I suggest you draw their attention to: https://www.hedgehogstreet.org/guidance-on-releasing-rehabilitated-hedgehogs/ and make sure that they have the information contained in this paper: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10344-018-1244-4
This is a copy of the conclusion:
“ConclusionIn conclusion, this study is the first to compare overwinter survival and behaviour of wild and rehabilitated hedgehogs and demonstrate that rehabilitated hedgehogs survive well if released in winter and exhibit natural behaviours of nest building, while changes in weight are similar to wild counterparts. Based on these findings, we recommend that wildlife rehabilitators can release rehabilitated hedgehogs during winter if the criteria used for release are similar to those used in this study. That is, hedgehogs should weigh over 600 g, have passed a veterinary health check, are soft-released in areas where the individuals were originally found or suburban areas without main roads and badgers, and during periods of mild weather (> 0 °C) over winter. Following these guidelines will reduce the periods of captivity for rehabilitated hedgehogs and allow them to reintegrate into their natural habitats as soon as possible, improving their welfare, whilst reducing the costs of care for the wildlife rehabilitators.”
Fantastic news about Calvin! And that Sapphire has done so well.
So pleased to hear some happy stories and well done you for all your hard work.
Keep us posted if you see Calvin, I suppose it’s possible he might hibernate for a few months.I don’t recognise Calvin anymore, the only hog that I recognise at the mo is Skylar, who is fairly little but is always in the feeding station, and I think must be a girl, as a boy was trying to court her the other week (which could have been Calvin)
Sapphire is now Walter (as he’s a boy) and had to rescue him, as he was on death’s door last month, saw him out during the day, after not seeing him for a week (so thought he might have chosen to hibernate after all), and it turned out he had a wound on his rump, but have no idea how he’s got it as no puncture wounds.
However, he has been very laid back in the hogspital, and doing really well, wound healing nicely and has been enjoying all the food he has been given. he is now 1kg. So will be getting him back soon.
Skylar might be Opal – who was an autumn juvilnile last autumn, along with walter, Calvin and Sweetpea, but can’t be sure.
The way Skylar is eating, she’ll be putting on weight fast. I saw her self-anointing the other month, seemed she had found something squidgy to eat, I think it could have been a worm. I have never seen that behaviour before in one of my hogs.
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