Louisiana Hedgehog Rescue Safe Home

28/06/2021

27/06/2021

I love this. I wish I remembered where it came from so I could thank them 🙂

20/05/2021

26/03/2021

Easter is coming up soon. Once again many little innocent animals will be purchased, played with and eventually dumped or placed when little p**pers become big p**pers and people realize their isn't enough air freshener to compete.

Unless you are committed to provide a lifetime of care and proper habitat for these animals, please avoid being part of the problem. Rescuers are worn out with cleaning up the mess from "traditions" that lack a whole lot of empathy and common sense.

Thank you for making good choices!

-Annette
(pet rock advocate)

01/03/2021

Wise words from an animal rescue I enjoy following. Give their page a view. Their updates are wonderful ❤

Advice for other rescuers!

This is me in 2006. I was ten years into building and running a wildlife rescue, still learning from the animals, still struggling to get through each day ensuring no one fell through the cracks.
I have learned so much since then. I am still learning every day. I wish I could have a conversation with that rehabber back in 1996 when she began and hand her my hard won wisdom and save her so much struggle, but I cannot. I can however share some of what I have learned with those who are struggling or just starting out.

#1 Build an open network with your peers!
Having relationships with people who do what you do is vital to the survival of your rescue. Share information, resources, supplies and help and you will also share the load. Any form of animal rescue should not be a competition. There is plenty of need to go around. Avoid engaging with those who make it a competition. Any rescuer who publicly disparages the efforts of another rescuer is not putting the animals first as it is always the animals that pay the price when a rescue fails. Keep in mind that sometimes all a floundering rescue needs is help, not criticism and that could be you one day. Don't be a jerk. Step up if you can, but don't make the situation worse for them. (If there is a real situation of neglect or abuse, report it quietly and let authorities handle it.)

#2 Know your limits and set your boundaries!
SO important! You have a limited amount of time and resources to contribute to caring for the animals you accept. Going without sleep and destroying your own finances does not make you more dedicated. It makes your longevity to help unstable. This is when you have to learn to "stay in your lane" and avoid taking in animals outside of your mission's guidelines. For me, my first boundary was to decline taking in domestic or exotic animals who were healthy owner turnovers. If the animals were safe and cared for, I would simply help find a home. I began a FB page called "Green Country Domestic Network" to refer people to. It has worked perfectly for many years. My second boundary was to decline imprinted wild animals who were no longer suitable for release. It saved a ton of money, time, frustration and danger for me and my crew.

It is HARD to decline help to an animal, but if you know you cannot help the situation for the animal, avoid extending resources you need for the ones who have no one but you to care for them to save a person from a poor decision. Offer support, advice and direction and avoid taking on someone else's problem. You have enough of your own.

#3 Learn from your mistakes!
You will make mistakes until you die because we are all always learning. Accept that, and do better. I look back at old photos and footage of myself and am often mortified. In the beginning, it was my connection with the wildlife that lured me in. Eventually I learned that my connection was harmful to them and should be avoided so wildlife stay wild. We don't always know what we do not know. Check yourself constantly and be open to learn from others. Wisdom comes from experience and delivery is everything. Share your hard won wisdom, but always keep in mind; Being right is secondary to being effective. If you teach in an offensive manner, you have wasted an opportunity to help someone else learn from you, and an animal lost your help. Again, don't be a jerk. Teach don't preach!

#4 Toss the bad apples or lose them all!
If you are fortunate enough to have help, don't allow anyone to run their own agenda within your space for the animals in your care. Granted, (I say this all the time!) "Animal people are not always people people" and that is a fact, but everyone who works together must work as a team or the animals will suffer in the end for it. None of us need help so badly that we should suffer through someone taking the attention from the animals and creating drama. The environment in any rescue needs to be peaceful, positive and supportive. The animals feel your energy. Wild or domestic. When people are apprehensive, animals follow suit.
I would rather have no help than grumpy help. Send the grumpies packing and protect your care environment and find yourself a Kimmi McKenzie to keep morale up! :)

#5 Be transparent.
Sure we all have losses we don't want to talk about because we are fighting a daily battle to keep our focus on the ones that we can help, but hiding losses or failures, even from your own mistakes, can be damaging to your reputation and a successful rescue is ALL about reputation. Share the situation honestly and move on from it. If it hurts to talk about and people keep dragging your back to the pain, have someone else handle the endless questions. Protect your focus and morale and let someone who isn't emotionally affected handle the rest. Your belief in yourself is paramount. Protect it!

#6 Avoid needing in excess.
This is a touchy one and something I've always known. I began my efforts believing I could fund it myself and did so for many years. It was only when I had no choice but to accept help to keep going that I applied for non profit status, and I am grateful for every penny that I don't have to work away from here to have for the animals and I take nothing for granted.
Every dime you raise is a dime that is unavailable to another need. Always keep that in mind and avoid being greedy. I care as much about the animals in the hands of others as I do about those in mine. Keep it in perspective. It's not a competition.

#7 Take care of yourself!
Killing yourself to save others is a very real threat. Youth was on my side for many years as I worked 20 hour days and cared for tens of thousands of wild animals. I miss my youth and I wish I could have a do-over to protect myself from myself.
Years of self neglect and overdoing it catch up to you and if you don't have a strong support team, the animals will suffer for it. I am fortunate to have the team I have, but I wish I could go back in time and take better care of me while I cared for so many.
Creating a world where so many depend on you and not taking care of yourself IS self sacrificing, but in the long run, is unfair. It is unfair to the animals who depend on you as well as the people who support you. If you're going to be stupid, make sure you have enough capable people to pick up the slack. Period.

#8 Protect your morale!
If you lead like you are burned out and fed up, all who follow you will follow you to 'burned out and fed up'. Squash the problems, avoid confrontations, ignore the gossip and keep your mind on the work. Remind yourself why you started. Make time to be alone with the animals to refocus and recharge yourself. Don't let people suck the life out of you. Find inspiration every single day and never ever let anyone else tell you who you are. The only opinion of you that matters comes from the animals in your care. If they are happy, content and cared for, you are doing your job.

#9 Last but far from least; Show appreciation to those who help you do what you do!
Your volunteers have PLENTY of other things to do besides clean p**p and care for your charges. Remember that. Every dollar that comes in is a dollar someone besides you had to work for. Remember that.
Once upon a time you decided to help, and eventually you needed help in order to keep helping. Those who help you help others are the lifeblood of your identity and mission. Make sure they understand what that means to you. If you don't make the time to appreciate them, they may find someone who will.
Yes, it can be exhausting to be grateful 24/7, but keep in mind what it would be like without their help and find the time and energy. You speak on behalf of the animals in your care and your voice should never fade.

I hope something here resonates with someone. If I can help anyone move forward in their efforts, stronger for my lessons, I am truly blessed for having learned them, even the hard ones.

"Even the rescuers suffer the same" ;)

Annette

22/02/2021

As a child my mother taught me how to feed wildlife with a wash rag corner dipped in unsweetened condensed goats' milk for them to suckle on. Looking back now I shake my head knowing now that I created rescues too. I'd bring in any babies I found to care for them not realizing some moms were coming back. My mom at one point stopped coming into my bedroom fearing what all I had in there.

I'd take opossum into the woods and crawl around with him as he foraged for bugs around the trees. It was a different world back then. Humans have complicated these animals' and other species lives with the best of intentions and allot of misunderstanding.

13/02/2021

13/02/2021

Consistent good daily hygiene, deep clean as needed.

By Diane VukovicWe've all heard it before: you need to wash your hands with soap and water to prevent the spread of germs. So, it would seem logical that washing your hands with antibacterial—germ-killing—soap would do a better job. It turns out that this is not only false, but those antibacteri...

13/02/2021

And still today ...

THE INVISIBLE SLIMY MONSTER IN THE WATER BOWL

Ever rub your fingers on the inside of your pet's water bowl and you feel a slippery slime of sorts? Well that invisible goo is called Biofilm.

Biofilm is a collection of organic and inorganic, living and dead materials collected on a surface. It is made up of many different types of bacteria bound together in a thick substance that acts as a glue to both hold the bacteria together and adhere it to a surface.

Biofilm can often be good bacteria but there is also the bad!

Biofilms provide a safe haven for organisms like Listeria, E. coli and legionella where they can reproduce to levels where contamination of products passing through that water becomes inevitable.

Bad Biofilms have been found to be involved in a wide variety of microbial infections in the body such as urinary tract infections, middle-ear infections and bladder infections.

Many pet parents are guilty of simply refilling the water bowl over and over without a wash and this becomes a wonderful environment for biofilm to soak around in.

How to reduce Biofilm:

Remember to clean your pet’s water bowl at least once a week if you can and change water daily.

For pet daycares where a host of different bacteria float around in water bowls, wash daily!

For best results, run your water bowls through a hot cycle in the dishwasher with an eco friendly, non-toxic soap to really clean out the biofilm!

Rodney Habib Pet Health Site

"An educated, informed and well-researched community of pet owners can only put more pressure on the pet food industry to be better! When pet owners know better, they will only do better!"

(P.S. - I am going to get lambasted over the "wash once a week at least" concept. However, after a wonderful discussion with a well known pro-active veterinarian/scientist, when she studied the bacteria looming in pets' water bowls she found if you have a healthy beast, biofilm can actually be full of wonderful, healthy bacteria. It's like playing in the mud as kids and having good bacteria all over you! So sometimes cleaning regularly can wash all the good stuff away. ;) )

13/02/2021

Omg ... this is an old video someone had shared that I just found ... too sweet ❤

06/02/2021

Dai is not my biggest fan right now 🤣😂😅 We cut nails tonight. In my defense; I didn't nick a cuticle for once. And her nails are so pretty...

Dai is really sweet and open once she lets you know how she feels, hedgehog style. I think her badger stripes leave her looking stern all the time.

She kissed my nose tonight though! At lunch my friend handed me ccx a napkin and told me I had sour cream on my nose from our Mexican food 🤷‍♀️ SO, it may be the sour creme smell she is licking at! I can put a little sour creme on my nose for a kiss 😂

I'm gonna get my grandson to record her next week when he comes. I get too tickled to even manage to record it. You just never know what these girls will do ❤

OH ... look how big her Quills are against this penny, even as tiny as she is at 340 grams. I've had several hedgehogs from young ages to older adults. Their Quills do get larger as they age. I believe the Quills can somewhat tell the age.

Once the bone growth is complete at 6 months, age is a guessing game with vets. Their teeth can be worn from age to bad food. Teeth can't determine age. I've always wished there were ways to determine age beyond extensive test done "possibly" giving an answer.

❤🦔🐉🐾🐛

01/02/2021

Ugh 🤢 but often overlooked. Another reason not to feed your animals raw meat and to clean any uncooked veggies very well 🤷‍♀️

Yes, we are going to talk about tapeworm. In order to keep nausea at a minimum, we will omit as many of the grosser details as possible.

01/02/2021

Codas' nick name is "Toe Jam" ... girl has a stinky sock fe**sh 🤦‍♀️😅🤣😂 and yes... I still gave her kisses afterwards 🤷‍♀️

❤🦔🐉🐾🐛

31/01/2021

Dai is such a pretty hedgehog. She has thick fur and quill skirt and the longest whiskers

❤🦔🐉🐾🐛

30/01/2021

Tongue shot 😅 God love her ... I never have to call Indy for dinner. Granted, she only took a few bites then left the rest knowing bugs come later. Food for the feral cats tomorrow. I can work with that though 🤷‍♀️ She's pretty good about eating what I give her.

She's an easy going hedgehog period ❤🦔🐉🐾🐛

30/01/2021

A wild hedgehog in Africa ... NOT an African Pygmy hedgehog as renamed when imported into the US. Back then anything named "pygmy" brought more money. And so the "beginning" of the myths about our hedgehogs for monetary gain with no benefit to them began.

ORPHANED HEDGEHOGLET: This little Southern African hedgehog (Atelerix frontalis) was found wandering alone in the middle of the day on a road near the Lonehill Nature Reserve. Being a nocturnal animal, and being too small to be alone, she was brought to our hospital.

So far, she is enjoying her special milk formula and loves insects. Once she is a little older and able to forage for her own food and care for herself, she will be released again.

We treat indigenous animals free of charge, relying solely on the donations and support of our community.


www.johannesburgwildlifevet.com
📷: Ashleigh Pienaar

29/01/2021

I can't help but shake my damn head "I've had hedgehogs for 15 years but I still feed them like cats and do not spay my retired females 🤦‍♀️🤷‍♀️!"

OK rant over ... My superworms are finally producing. I just needs lots more production 😂 I'll leave them growing and producing for 6 months. Then I should be closer to self sufficient. My guys love Superworms and they energize them like no other insects do. So I'm still ordering bulk to keep enough to feed them.

Roaches, now they are easy. Dubias are easy. Madagascar hissers are easy. On the rare occasion one gets loose, Smaug to the rescue. Truthfully they stay by their bins because they know their food source.

The hissers hide more than the dubias. But they show up for dinner time just like the hedgehogs do 😁

❤🦔🐉🐾🐛