Spiking interest...

in wildlife

So who do you think might be tucked away all cuddled up in here in a
cosy garage owned by a friendly foster mummy?

He's a bit shy to start with.

And a wee bit sleepy as an overly keen gardener had woken
him up from his hibernation by accident. Isn't he sweet!

And quite long too.

With quite nibbly teeth. 

He wasn't alone, either.
At the moment Conni has about 6 hedgehogs to look after,
fattening them up while the weather warms up outside.

Another little fellow was rummaging about in the newspaper shreddings.
We could just see his nose inside the box but couldn't get a good photo.
Jake tried with his phone but we didn't want to scare him with the flash.

There are two hedgehogs in this big box but they don't get on
so the doors to their separate hoggy homes have to face different ways. 

Outside in the carport, Conni's clever husband has made this multi-box condo that
can be sectioned off to house lots of hedgehogs needing help.

That's just as well because last year Conni had 86 hedgehogs to care for
- 23 was the most at one time.

Of course, hedghogs like woodpiles better than moving boxes.

The bigger the better!

Conni started fostering seven years ago when a family of young hedgehogs lost their mum. Now she has at least four permanent prickly residents in her garden.

So what does it take to be a hedgehog foster mum?

You need time, according to Conni. A call can come any time, though the peak season is from May until November. And you need the stamina to care for sometimes wounded, infected hogs and to remove ticks, mites, maggots etc. if necessary from the poor little creatures. Naturally, the society puts new recruits in touch with an experienced contact person to help advise on looking after sick hedgehogs, bottle-feeding hoglets and homing hoggies. Food (kitten biscuits) is delivered to the door and the cost of medicine is covered by the society. Anyone interested in volunteering in Denmark is welcome to write to plejeransvarlig@pindsvin.dk. They are also interested to hear from potential drivers who can pick up hogs and drop them off with foster parents though the petrol isn’t refunded and all work for the society is voluntary.

If you don't have a big woodpile like Conni, but would like to give a
hedgehog a home, they can make do with a pallet pad covered in insulating plastic...

...and full of straw.
We'll be making our own pallet pad for a hedgehog next time we go up to our cottage
where the garden is big enough for a new resident and the neighbours are friendly too.
So look out for that post in a week or two.

BUT FIRST...next Sunday (3 May) we'll be posting photos of how to bake a chocolate and strawberry hedgehog cake to celebrate the first day of Hedgehog Awareness Week in England.

Mmmmmmm! Fingerlickin' good!

Who needs perfection in confection anyway?
A good dollop of fun is the icing on OUR cake!