Nic you are an absolute star – from the start of going on this forum – I’ve learnt an incredible amount from you – I don’t know how you’ve got all this knowledge – I’m sure you’re actually a hedgehog who’s evolved enough to type.
I checked out courses with Vale Wildlife, and there is a course in feb fairly near me – so gonna book later on today as it’s nearly fully booked – £85 for one day.
Just realised giving sweetpea a toilet roll tube probably wasn’t the best idea, I gave her a fresh one, and she sticks her nose in it, that’s probably why she dragged the old one into her home, she probably got stuck, so anyway I’ve ripped the new one up so she can play with that if she wants – but even though she might have got her nose stuck in the old one last night – she went straight over to the new one to play with it. But just to be on the safe side, I’ve ripped it up.
I’ve just read the Hedgehog Bottom link you gave, and I don’t think I’m the right kind of person, because if hedgehogs got worse in my care, I’d feel horrendous – and I don’t think i’d be able to cope very well with that.
I’m quite happy next year, (I think all the other young hedgehogs that visit are correct weight) to overwinter one, and get poo sampled by the hedgehog hospital regularly, and have the hospital there so if things did take a turn for the worse.
I just don’t think I’m ready yet to take on that kind of level of responsibility – I would need a lot of supportive people around me, to help me out – and with my mum, she’s helped me out driving me to the hospital and back – but she’s getting a bit fed up with it, and she even, jokingly said, ‘you’re a nutter’ when I first took Calvin in, she’s since sort of apologised after I found out he had internal parasites. But she moans a bit when I talk to her a bit too much about hedgehogs (I haven’t got the best relationship with my mum BTW).
I’ve got friends that work in Conservation, from volunteering with them 3 days a week, who are really into wildlife, I’ve learnt a lot from them, and I’d get support from them, but for me to take that level of responsibility, I’d need more support and understanding from family, as I might need to rely on them from time to time.
The lady at the hospital has a husband, who doesn’t get involved in the care – but likes hedgehogs, and she has a good team of volunteers that are probably just as obessed about them as we all are here on this forum.
