Helping Hedgehogs

Hi all, just thought I'd write a quick post, to tell you all about our new garden resident, a rescue Hedgehog which we've decided to name Wilf.  He came from a lady who runs a small Hedgehog sanctuary and since he has a damaged back leg, he'll be staying with us in the enclosure of our garden.  At the moment he's sleeping rather a lot, possibly at the beginning of his hibernation cycle, he could still wake up for food which we put out daily for him but so far he seems to be happy staying in the warmth of his little hog-house!

  

The house came from a great website called Ark Wildlife (www.arkwildlife.co.uk), they're idea for the Hedgehogs as they are raised off the ground for extra warmth and have a double doorway, so no cats, dogs or other predators can get in there too!  We've filled the house with nice soft hey for bedding and he seems pretty cosy.  We've also got his house and a feeding station (a plastic storage box with a whole cut in the side and bowls of hedgehog wet food and dried meal worms - their favorite!) in a large wire rabbit run on the patio, to keep him safely contained over winter until the warmer weather in the spring.  Also at the moment we've got another hedgehog living in another hog-house down the bottom of the garden, he turned up about a week ago and happily comes out every night for his dinner.  


Here are just a couple of photos of our current resident hedgehog (he doesn't have a name at the moment so if anyone can think of a good one, please let me know).  I don't  have any photos of Wilf yet but as soon as I do I'll post some :-)

P.S.  Please remember to keep a look out for our prickly little friends, they are very vulnerable and there are many dangers around in the garden, anything from dogs and cats, not checking piles of leaves, bonfires, ponds and many more.  If there are underweight they will not make it through a harsh winter and need all the food they can get.  Feed them with dried meal worms, cat food (not fish based), wet hedgehog food like 'Spikes' available from 'Pets at Home' and dry Hedgehog Mix available from 'Ark Wildlife'.  Please NEVER give them bread and milk, it's an old myth and can cause them a lot of harm by swelling up in their stomachs!  Hedgehogs are now considered an endangered species and could be extinct within the next 10 years, so please do all you can to help them! :-)