Joss

Joss passed away over night. Help had arrived too late. By the time he arrived at the hedgehog sanctuary he had been starving for days and possibly weeks. Despite every effort being made, nothing could save him. Heartbreaking to see and so frustrating. If only he had been found sooner and been taken into the warm and safe surroundings, aptly named 'sanctuary'.

ACTION: Many people see hedgehogs wandering about in the daytime for several days before they decide to act. This is not usually due to a lack of caring but because they see posters telling them not to pick up baby birds they see on their own, as the parents will be watching the baby, just waiting for the person to go so they can return to feed their baby. This is completely true. The same is also true for young foxes and deer. The mother will be watching and waiting near by and unless the young fox or deer is obviously in distress or injured, it should be left totally alone. However, the same is not true of hedgehogs. Any hedgehog found out in the day is desperately in need of help. At this time of year, any hedgehog found out in the day, or hedgehogs weighing less than 500g, should be taken into care. The minimum weight that a hedgehog is expected to be before hibernation is 600g. At the moment, in Britain, it is quite mild and in Yorkshire hedgehogs do not appear to have started to hibernate. Those weighing less than 500g at the moment, will most likely not gain enough weight to be able to survive hibernation.