Prickleback Urchin Hedgehog Rescue

10/08/2024

Please 🙏 think about the netting in your garden for the sake of all wildlife 🐍🦔🐭🐇🦡🦊

10/08/2024

Can you be a NEWSPAPER HERO for us? This is an old video (obviously done specifically for someone) but it shows you how we need torn newspaper for anyone who can help us by doing some every so often.

Most important things are:
1 . CLEAN NEWSPAPER ONLY… no magazines or circulars - the newspaper is absorbing and warm.
2. REMOVE staples - we don’t need additional injuries to you or the hedgehogs 🦔 ❤️‍🩹
3. Papers MUST be cut in half before ripping or the strips are too large and we end up not using it. 😩
4. Don’t be tempted to try to rip too much in one go … just a few sheets at a time works best! Trust us on this one 🤣🫣

We are so grateful for bags of ripped newspaper as it saves us valuable hours!

10/08/2024

We are so pleased with the progress of the Cottesmore Gang and Rutley.

They are all ready to release next week but we are going to wait for the hot 🥵 snap on Monday to pass.

We have one other hedgehog we are hopefully is nearing release and with Trevor learning to lap and self feed we can open the doors again!

In the meantime please follow the advice on our website for first aid actions if you find a hedgehog and contact another rescue. If the hedgehog is injured please take it straight to a vet without delay.

10/08/2024

Little Willoughby and I have something in common this week. We have both been battling an infection and feeling a bit sorry for ourselves.

Sadly Willoughby did not escape injury after becoming trapped in a piece of litter.

Last weekend we noticed her tail was swollen and sore so she returned to the vets for assessment.

It is not uncommon that injuries emerge in the weeks after a constriction incident as the skin breaks down and then infection sets in. Unfortunately this is what has happened to poor Willoughby and she had an infection in her tail.

We are so grateful to Oakham Veterinary Hospital Small Animal for taking Willoughby into their care for several days so she could be given some strong pain relief and medication to help prevent her worrying the area and causing more damage and preventing healing. ❤️‍🩹

We are so grateful for this level of care provided.

Willoughby has been back in rescue for several days and she and I are both taking our antibiotics, painkillers, resting up and improving.

She’ll head back to the vets for a more thorough assessment next week as the area’s impossible to full assess unless she’s gassed down!

10/08/2024

Little Starr 🌟 is doing much better despite the look of him! These photos show the two sides of this little hedgehog struggling with ringworm which is a fungal condition. The area of matted and infected fur has almost all come away at last and he can now move more freely. The skin along his skirt area on this side has been sore and inflamed but it’s steadily improving.
He’s such a gentle little soul. We love him.

08/08/2024

Please take a moment to listen to Dr Liz Thomas, my sister!

We all need to hear this message … we all need to recognise the scale of the issue and do something.

What secrets do the great ice sheets of the Antarctic hold? What can they tell us about life on earth 100,000 years ago and, more importantly, what life will...

08/08/2024

🌟🌟THANK YOU BRAMLES! 🌟🌟

We were so pleased to be asked by BRAMBLES if they could share the information from one of our recent posts.

Of course we said yes! 🙌 👍

It’s so nice to have the support and recognition from companies like this for the work wildlife rehabbers do up and down the country.

We are proud to be part of the wildlife rehab community and want to give our own shout out to all the other rescues out there making a difference every day!

We are very fortunate in the UK to have numerous Wildlife Rescues that care for injured and sick wildlife. These can vary from large charity Rescues such as

08/08/2024

Oh my goodness Trevor 🤣

08/08/2024

In better news…. Trevor has started to try new foods which results in lots of self anointing behaviour! Watch out for the videos coming up next… ❤️🦔❤️🦔❤️

08/08/2024

Sadly the tiny little one that had been heavily marked passed away. Sorry little one. 💔

07/08/2024

A huge thank you to Charlotte for nominating us to receive a donation of £100 from Landsend in Oakham.

It was a lovely surprise and we are so grateful for the support.

Thank you so much to Landsend for supporting local charities in this way.

07/08/2024

Well over a month ago, we received a phone call about a hoglet, approximately a week old, taken to rutlandveterinary centre in Uppingham.

At the time we were unable to assist as we had no capacity to hand feed however as the rather wonderful Vet Emma
at Rutland Veterinary Centre took on the challenge (and boy what a challenge 🫣) to hand-rear little‘Bramble’.

We provided an incubation unit, formula and advice so that little ‘Bramble’ had the best possible chance. Emma and her family have done brilliantly and yesterday we had the pleasure of meeting Bramble and offering advice on the next stage of his rehabilitation journey.

We are so grateful to Emma and her family for dedicating their time to this little soul. Hand rearing hoglets is a time consuming and challenging task that should only be done by someone with the right skills, equipment, knowledge and support.

We are our so grateful to work with so many dedicated veterinary professionals in our local area and I am sure you’ll
agree that Emma and her boys are true hedgehog heroes!

07/08/2024

Good morning everyone from baby Trevor. He’s gained 12g in the last two days and has just started to lap more successfully for himself although he much prefers being hand feed 🤣

04/08/2024

DO NOT MARK WILD ANIMALS.

The hedgehog may be Britain’s favourite mammal and luckily there are lots of people out there who feel passionately about their local population however there is a fine line between supporting your local population and interfering in a way which is completely wrong.

We should only be intervening with Wild Hedgehogs as an absolute last resort.

Sadly, the humble Hedgehog has little defence against humans who wish to pick them up and interact with them.

If you care about your Hedgehogs, please ensure you are not overstepping the mark and actually causing more harm than good.

They are not your hedgehogs but wild animals that need to be respected as such.

Colour marking could:

- lead to rejection of a hoglet from the nest or litter
- increased risk of predation
- toxic poisoning
- skin irritation or chemical burns

Please share this message far and wide.

Marking is done for your satisfaction and not in the best interest of the animal.

04/08/2024

Thanks to John, Nat and Lynne all being able to help out for the next five days we’ve been able to agree to admit another.

Our capacity is so stretched at the moment 😔 and we are sorry to everyone who we’ve turned down or missed the call in the last few days.

As a small rescue run entirely in our ‘free time’ and with volunteers to help keep us going in this busy season we just can’t keep up with the demand.

Special thanks to Violet, Barby and Ingrid who all do incredible things to stop ✋ us giving up completely!

04/08/2024

This is little ‘Runner’. He’s been incredibly poorly since he arrived and has only made painfully small gains so far.
He’s receiving treatment and we aren’t giving up hope yet but he’s certainly needing a lot of support. 💔

04/08/2024

Baby Trevor has been here 10 days and despite initially doing well sadly he’s been dropping weight and lacking an interest in food in recent days.

He’s had round the clock care, night & day in shifts between myself, Jay, Nat and Vicky and I can’t tell you the countless hours of TLC we’ve all poured into him.

We are hoping for another miracle for this little one. We are keeping everything crossed. 🤞🤞🤞🤞🤞

03/08/2024

This is tiny number 332. He was found by Rebecca and is suffering from a severe case of ringworm. He’s such a tiny soul at 135g 💔
Ringworm is very stubborn to treat and is also easily spread without careful barrier care. This little soul has started to lose his spines which is often the case with ringworm, you can see the infected spines in the medicated bath water.
He is taking a lot of time and attention at the moment but we hope he’ll start to improve soon.

03/08/2024

Is it dinner time? Oh good 😋

03/08/2024

Thank you so much to everyone who came to chat to us at Brinvale Bird Foods open day. ❤️🦔

The event was lovely and well supported which was fantastic to see. It was lovely to chat to so many hedgehogs fans!

There are some lucky hedgehogs 🦔 living in well supported gardens from what we heard today.

I hope lots of hedgehog food was purchased today from the farm today for those hedge-pigs out there!

A special thank you to Donna & John for all your help today, I couldn’t have attended the event without your help.

If you want to find out how to support hedgehogs in your garden why not check out our website at
www. pricklebackurchin.org.uk
Or visit the website ‘Hedgehog Street’ that’s run by the People’s Trust for Endangered Species.

03/08/2024

Robin gained his freedom last night.

He was found as a tiny baby next to his deceased mother 💔 but despite his sad start he’s thrived with appropriate care.

Thank you to his finders who have always supported us and continue to do so.

Thank you to Sophia & Ray for providing him with an ideal release location to start his ‘wild’ life. Such a lucky 🍀 hedgehog! ❤️🦔

03/08/2024

Good morning from Willoboughy.

She’s doing well (one of only 6 in rescue at the moment that isn’t causing huge concern 😔).

Her swollen leg is now completely healed and she had such a lucky escape from her constriction injury.

She’s part way through her treatment for roundworm and lungworm which isn’t nice but she’s a little fighter 💪

She’s determined to only eat the Royal Canine puppy mouse so she’s got expensive taste! 👅

03/08/2024

We are dashing around the rescue this morning preparing even earlier than usual to head across to the Brinvale Bird Foods open day 🥰

Please do come along and see us if you can. We will be there from 10-3pm.

28/07/2024

Our gorgeous little Brinvale hoglets have returned to the wild. 🦔🦔🦔🦔❤️

Sadly their story took a tragic turn when the mummy hog unexpectedly passed away in our care several weeks ago. We were heartbroken 💔 but thankfully she had raised her babies to a stage of development where they were able to survive without her and they continued to thrive.

Returning them for release this week was somewhat bittersweet after this loss but her legacy is the four hoglets that have returned to the yard they were born on with lots of support from our friends at Brinvale Bird Foods .

Wildlife rehabilitation really is full of highs and lows and this case had the highest and the lowest.

We will never forget this little family, the mother’s determination to find her young and her sad passing. She really did give her all to her babies.

28/07/2024

Off he goes… ❤️🦔

28/07/2024

Goodbye and good luck to the adorable Pikachu.

He’s a rather special little hedgehog 🦔 who needed a very supportive garden and area to be released into.

He’s a lucky boy as he’s headed out to live wild and free in a mature garden with a known 🦔 population; there are several hedgehog houses, access to woodland beyond the fence and support food and water 💦 on tap.

28/07/2024

This is beautiful Robin, aka Baby Stamford. He’s looking forward to going home in the next few weeks ❤️💪🤞

28/07/2024

Our biggest 100g

🦔❤️🦔❤️🦔❤️🦔❤️🦔❤️🦔❤️🦔❤️🦔❤️

28/07/2024

At the moment the majority of our inmates are under 250g 🫣 so Exton Hog (sorry, we were too tired to name her on arrival so the nickname stuck) is the exception.

She’s just over 1kg and was admitted after a suspected dog attack.

We had hoped she’d be a short term hog but she’s got Fluke, roundworm and lungworm which is all making her feel pretty poorly. She’s part way through her treatment at the moment and in one of the lager cages in the shed.

28/07/2024

We really hope to see some of you next Saturday 🦔❤️🦔
Please pop along to say hello 👋
There will be lots to enjoy 😊 at this free event.

Our Brinvale Open Day countdown has officially begun!

Are you local to us and if so, will you be popping down to say hello? 🐦🦉🦔🦢🦆🦅