Reply To: autumn juvenile

[vickie]

I have been feeding hedgehogs in my garden now for a good few years, they have been a joy to watch and have provided me with lots of entertainment from one being rammed off a (low) wall by a frustrated male (much to my horror, i ran outside like a bolt of lightening, they both looked up at me slightly embarrassed by what i had seen, the big one just grunted loudly and ran off) they are just so funny. Anyway I am by no means an expert but I have spent many frustrated hours reading most of the information available on the internet in an attempt to educate myself on these curious little creatures and i have been shocked at the sheer amount of conflicting advice and god damn ignorant articles by so called experts taken as fact with no supporting evidence, it is absolutely disgusting that these are not removed to prevent people with good intentions from being misled. One major concern is the advice on safe hibernation weights for autumn juveniles, i have seen ranges between 450g to 750g which are vastly different and not at all helpful for panicked hedgehog lovers in need of some prompt advice. From what i have learned there is no guaranteed survival weight although in a bad winter the heavier ones will stand a better chance but we don’t get them too often although you never quite know what we are in for (if you believe the doomsday weather predictions in the papers we are all fooked). We had a small one emerge from hibernation earlier this year, we rescued one that was 270g and this could have been a sibling that we missed. Luckily we had a rather mild winter. We also took in a small one a couple of days ago that was a deceptive 550g, i was very surprised by this as it was very small and not fat enough by a long way, so weight alone is not enough to make a judgement (use your instincts and get a second opinion if unsure) they should be round looking as appose to long when curled up) the rspca are very good if you have no transport, usually with you in a couple of hours from experience (not so quick with pigeon’s though) and will take it to a hedgehog carer to be overwintered. Please remember that we have lots left to learn about these little characters especially in regard to feeding mealworms etc (which i have been guilty of in the past) we all want what is best for them or we wouldn’t be here so lets not be stubborn and defensive because that helps no one, as humans we are constantly learning and mistakes will be made out of nothing but love but we can always improve x