Wednesday 10 February 2010

Roger looks forward to spring


Roger has had a fairly uneventful winter. Xmas came and went with no surprises and he has become quietly used to his routine. When he hears his name mentioned he springs into action and awaits the arrival of food. Amazingly he failed to put on any extra weight over Xmas, thus defying all the odds and leading others to ask how on earth he had achieved this. He could only respond that he had stuck to his normal eating pattern and had eaten no more or less than usual. Needless to say his fellow hedgehogs were full of admiration!
He was aware that spring was in the air and had recently been listening to increased bird noises in the garden. Having spent all of the winter cossetted in a heated room, namely the kitchen, he was now starting to ruminate about what life might be like on the outside. While the quail brooder was fine for the cold months it was no replacement for a life foraging in the undergrowth, never knowing what you might come across next. Yes, Roger was eagerly waiting for spring.

6 comments:

  1. Just found your site, Toni, and love it. Roger clearly has a future in the media. All the details you give about the care these hedgehogs receive is fascinating.

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  2. Delighted to hear Roger is doing well. How are Amos and Billie doing?

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  3. Hi Kevin, Amos is doing really well and has overwintered in a heated unit, but has now moved to a large hutch in the shed. I am keeping a careful eye on him after his dreadful start in life. He now weighs 900+g and will be released as soon as the warm weather arrives. No chance of that at the moment though as snow fell again last night in North Yorkshire.
    Billie did really well and went into my garden. He reached 700+ g and then suddenly lost 40g. I took him straight to the vet for a Droncit injection as yellow poo suggested flukes. He also had antibiotics (Baytril)for any bacterial infection and Telmin for lungworm. Unfortunately, nothing worked. It was heartbreaking to see him go downhill so quickly. He ended up having to be put to sleep by the vet as he became thin and reached the point of no return. I agreed with the vet that it was kinder to him to let him go. The vet also said that they had seen a big increase in the number of fluke-related illness in other animals such as sheep and thought that it might be connected to the very wet weather we have had in the autumn (in terms of the number of slugs and snails that are host to flukes). Either way, I am now reluctant to put any animals in my garden for the time being and will use the 8 foot run instead. Thanks for your thoughts and support.

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  4. Hi Jenny
    Welcome to the blog! Yes, Roger is making inroads thick and fast into the media world. He starred on television on Look North last November and has made a live appearance during a 'hedgehog walk' that I did at a local park in the autumn. He shows no fear around people which is amazing seeing as he came in to me as a mature hedgehog straight from the wild.

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  5. Hi Toni, terribly sorry to hear about Billie, but very well done with Amos.

    We released our two guests in the mild weather last November, with obviously no idea how bad the winter would turn out to be. We have had more snow than usual down on the south coast. Caught a glimpse of each of them in December, and we hope that they are still living in the house in our garden. I guess come the Spring we might find out.

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  6. Roger is now into his 3rd winter at the rescue centre. He has been hibernating on and off since late September. He is now cosy in an insulated unit being checked on every day in case he wakes up (which he tends to do when the weather gets a bit warmer) and wants a dish of chum puppy meat - the only thing that he will eat these days. He has had a good year and spent all summer in the garden.

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