RSPCA West Hatch Wildlife

07/11/2024

We are currently experiencing a very mild autumn in the South West, so our current advice re hedgehog hibernation weight is that as long as the hedgehog is behaving normally and not out in the day, thin, sick or injured, then it is best off left to fatten up in the wild.

Bringing healthy hedgehogs in to captivity can do more harm than good as it causes stress, illness and takes up the resources and spaces in rehab that are needed for the sick and poorly hogs.

The best way you can help healthy hogs in the wild at this time of year is by support feeding and keeping your gardens wild/untidy, allowing them to find lots of nesting material, ready for winter. You can find out more ways to help hogs by clicking the link below😊

https://www.rspca.org.uk/adviceandwelfare/wildlife/hedgehogs/garden

*photo taken during daily weighing and cleaning*

04/11/2024

It's a beautiful day for a gannet release! ☀️

After its feathers were washed to ensure they were in great condition, this juvenile gannet was released on a beach in Dorset.

After its initial launch into the waves, it took a few minutes of stretching its wings and getting reacquainted with life in the wild before it took off and flew far out to sea.

Video by Emma Jacobs Photography

03/11/2024

Give Cornetto a ♥️ if you like his yoga pose 🦭

01/11/2024

Pumpkins can harm wildlife and ecosystems so please dispose of them safely!

Want to repurpose your pumpkins? 🎃

Discarded pumpkins can harm some wildlife, including hedgehogs, so please avoid leaving them on the ground or in woodland areas.

You can offer fresh pumpkin and seeds to birds in your garden feeders, but remember to remove any leftovers before they get mouldy.

Check out more tips here: https://bit.ly/3AiIrq2

01/11/2024

Thank you to Mark, Alice and Rowan Bevan, who have brought several small hogs into us recently and kindly donated some spikes hedgehog biscuits and calciworms for all our spikey patients ☺️

If you too would like to support us, check out our Amazon wishlist below

https://amzn.to/2JW2v7m?fbclid=IwY2xjawGRxutleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHRPfxrlTAOh0b-7zhew0FCAbs9rUP1TLozti6X4iS0BByn1oY2Ws8H7ppQ_aem_d4v70Vrbq_RcKOo4ykimLve

31/10/2024

Happy Halloween from all the animals and staff at West Hatch! 🎃🧙‍♀️👻

31/10/2024

In this video you can see Wildlife assistant Charlotte and Supervisor Paul washing the gannet from our previous post.

All seabirds that have spent a length of time in care will undergo this process to ensure they are fully waterproof, prior to release. The way we can tell they are completely clean and free from contaminant is when the water beads off the feathers.

If anyone is wondering the reason for the toothbrush between their beak.. it’s because gannets have no external nostrils so we leave a gap when securing their beak in order for them to breathe.

*Washing a bird should only be attempted by a professional who has undergone extensive training to do so. As feathers are so important to a bird, it is imperative that they are not damaged during the washing process.*

Video by Emma Jacobs Photography

29/10/2024

We are still in desperate need of newspapers, magazines and/or shredded paper to keep our hedgehogs clean and warm over the winter period!

We use newspaper to line their houses, and shredded paper as bedding to keep them warm and to give them somewhere to hide and feel safe.

Any donations of newspaper, magazines and long cut shredded paper, free of staples and debris are gratefully received. These can be dropped off at the centre between 8am-9pm daily, or if out of hours, in the donations bin outside our gates.

Thank you from the hedgehogs and staff at West Hatch! 🦔❄️

✅ Long cut shredding
✅Free of staples and debris
✅Newspaper
✅Magazines
❌Cross cut
❌Envelopes

28/10/2024

This is an example of a thin, weak and dehydrated hedgehog. He came into our care after being found out in the day with ticks and flystrike, indicating he’s unwell 😔

It’s still very early days and he’s obviously been struggling for a while, but we hope with a specialised diet and supportive veterinary care we can pull him through 🤞🏼

*Video taken during initial assessment*

27/10/2024

Recently we admitted a windblown juvenile gannet that was found grounded. It was transferred to us from Vale Wildlife Hospital & Rehabilitation Centre as gannets require specialist facilities for rehabilitation, including washing facilities and access to a pool.

As the gannet was not used to eating in captivity, they initially had to be assist fed fish until they had learnt to eat for themselves. After a few days they started self-feeding, gaining weight and progressing nicely.

Unfortunately one of the disadvantages of assist-feeding a gannet is that fish oil can contaminate the feathers, meaning that a wash is usually required before release to ensure the bird is 100% waterproof.

After the bird was washed, their ability to stay waterproof was tested! The gannet was put on a pool for over 48 hours, ensuring their body was high in the water and splashes of water were beading off their feathers appropriately - a sure sign of waterproofing!

Stay tuned for the video of them being washed!

📷Emma Jacobs Photography

23/10/2024

Some important info shared by our colleagues at RSPCA Mallydams Wood Wildlife Rehabilitation and Education Centre

Please share in order to help protect wildlife 🦡🦔🦇🐦🦊

🌌 As the nights grow longer, and we enter spooky season, here's some things to remember for the local and migrating wildlife 🌌

🕸️ Fake cobwebs can be hazardous, easily entangling wildlife - especially if hung between tree branches or on bushes. Try to keep them inside if possible.

🎃 Carved pumpkins are best enjoyed by us, and then discarded in your compost or the bin, rather than left in the woods. They can cause problems to our local nature spots, and to wildlife. You can leave small, freshly cut pieces or seeds on off the ground bird feeders if you wish, but remove uneaten pieces before they rot.

🍫 Chocolate and sweets are a fun part of some festivities - remember to put the wrappers in the bin, not on the floor! Animals can become sick if they eat our food or litter. Sometimes they can even become trapped in our rubbish.

🔥 Bonfires are common this time of year, so it's important to remember the animals that may be hibernating in wood piles - always check them thoroughly before lighting, and wherever possible only build them on the day of lighting.

🍂 Other popular hibernating spots include leaf piles, rock piles, long grass and compost bins. If you can, consider leaving some wild spaces in your garden for the wildlife as the temperature drops, and let your compost pile rest without turning until the spring.

🪟 Huge numbers of birds are migrating this time of year, many at night - often drawn into towns by lights, they then crash into windows. Lights off or blackout curtains can help, and so can tape or special stickers on the outside window. Birds may be found on the floor, exhausted or injured - possibly needing to come to us for help. If you have bird feeders, clean them regularly to help prevent the spread of illness.

🚗 Roads are always dangerous, but with longer nights, clock changes, and seasonal behaviour preparing to hibernate or rutting season, it's especially important to be aware and drive carefully. Remember too, that sometimes if an animal has been hit by a car, it may not have passed away - only if it is safe to do so, you can stop, check, and call for help.

🦊🦔🦡🐦‍⬛🦇🦉🦭

We are a Wildlife Hospital near Hastings, East Sussex. We are open every day 8am - 5pm for wildlife casualties. You can phone us on 🔹0300 123 0723🔹or message our Facebook, and we will get back to you as soon as possible.

Our team includes experienced wildlife vets at least 5 days a week, a skilled vet nurse from a wildlife rehabilitation background, several highly-trained Wildlife Assistants, and some incredibly clever, caring, and hardworking volunteers.

If you would like to support us in our work directly, we have an Amazon Wishlist and a JustGiving, found here:

💙 http://mallydams.link/donate

🎁 http://mallydams.link/wishlist

23/10/2024

🦭🌟

22/10/2024

This is Walnut, when he came in he was 110g which is a decent size for his age but he was very weak and had lost a lot of weight rapidly. We gave him antibiotics and he was hand reared by a member of staff in order to receive intensive care and regular routine feeds of fluids and puppy milk. After a rocky couple of days he finally started gaining weight well, his eyes had opened and he even grew back the fur on his tummy, which was very sparse on admission.

As he grew, he became more and more inquisitive and soon started eating for himself, his favourite being warm, mashed up spikes hedgehog biscuits. He anointed with all new food as it was introduced and meal time was his favourite time of the day!

After 5 days at home, he was 150g and progressed to a full time inpatient at the hospital, no longer needing syringe feeds from a hand rearer, but lots of food for his veracious appetite!

Thank you to the MOP who brought Walnut in to us. He was named Walnut because he was so wrinkly on admission - now he looks like a conker!

21/10/2024

This male otter was found on the side of the road by a concerned member of the public, cold and unable to stand. He was quickly picked up by one of our ARO team and transferred here to us. On initial assessment he was found to be worryingly underweight, have some minor tail wounds and was too young to be on his own.

Otter cubs are born into a den, or holt, where they'll stay until they are weaned. Most cubs emerge at 2-3 months old and weigh around 1.5kg. They then remain with their mother until they are 12 months, as she teaches them vital hunting and survival skills, where they disperse around their adult weights (7 - 10kg for males).

Our cub was estimated to be around 4 months old on arrival and weighed only 1.6kg. Since admission, and after some treatment for his wounds, he has been eating well and has started to exhibit some more normal (feisty!) behaviours 😊.

*Photos taken during feeding/cleaning*

20/10/2024

Featuring in this weeks is Cornetto!

This silly seal hasn't quite figured out how to eat fish whole yet and so enjoys shredding them into tiny, bite-sized pieces 🦭.

What a silly, messy pup!

📷 Emma Jacobs Photography

14/10/2024

Remember the female badger that spent some time with us whilst receiving treatment for her wounds? After recovering nicely, she was released back to her sett! 🦡

Badgers live in underground tunnels and chambers called setts, which are their family homes. They can maintain these over generations, defocating away from their setts in latrines and routinely collecting fresh bedding to keep them warm and clean.

Badgers know the scent of their family members well, which helps them find their way back home quickly. Badgers are also highly territorial, meaning it is very important they are returned back to the same place they are found!

13/10/2024

We are in need of newspapers, magazines and/or shredded paper to keep our hedgehogs clean and warm over the winter period!

We use newspaper to line their houses, and shredded paper as bedding to keep them warm and to give them somewhere to hide and feel safe.

Any donations of newspaper, magazines and long cut shredded paper, free of staples and debris are gratefully received. These can be dropped off at the centre between 8am-9pm daily.

Thank you from the hedgehogs and staff at West Hatch! 🦔❄️

✅ Long cut shredding
✅Free of staples and debris
✅Newspaper
✅Magazines
❌Cross cut
❌Envelopes

13/10/2024

Meet Calippo!

This pup was picked up from the beach by an animal rescue officer due to being very skinny. Once admitted, we found he had a swollen, infected flipper and weighed only 10kg - the birth weight of a Grey seal pup is 13kg!

Calippo was immediately placed under a heat lamp, given fluids once warmed up and was prescribed antibiotics by our senior clinician. He will now continue receiving fluids for the next 24 hours until stabilised, before progressing onto our delicious fish soup!

🦭 Stay tuned for a pupdate 🦭