T'is a hard life....

[CharlieCreek]

It is always heart breaking when we loose a hog.

When they are as poorly as Humphrey was your day (and night) is filled with trying to do the best for that little creature and when they finally give up you have a moment of your brain not wanting to accept it and then the sinking feeling of acceptance. I guess because sometimes you fight so hard for them you want them to fight as hard back, sometimes they don't or simply can't.

Little Humphrey had a massive worm burden that the wormers and antibiotics started to tackle and he started to expel in the last two days, but sadly too late as his weight even with hand feeding and vitamin injections to pep him up constantly dropped.

We went in to feed him at 1am this morning and to check on him and sadly he had passed away a few minutes beforehand.

Well you know the conversation we had on the phone Pattie, hindsight is a wonderful thing but there is no point in dwelling on could have beens. cara pace is right without intervention on your behalf in the first place he wouldn't have had any chance and next time we will be just that little bit more on the ball.

[Farplace]

So sorry to hear of your loss. At least he was warm and fed.

[Hedgehoggy]

Pattie, I’m so very sorry about Humphrey and know how heartbroken you are as it reflects in your post. Nobody could have predicted this sad outcome. Unfortunately, so many of our autumn juvs are already compromised with very heavy internal parasite burdens, which often lead to secondary infections causing the hedgehogs to go downhill so quickly.

Originally Posted by CharlieCreek

hindsight is a wonderful thing but there is no point in dwelling on could have beens. cara pace is right without intervention on your behalf in the first place he wouldn't have had any chance and next time we will be just that little bit more on the ball.

I second that.

Do keep on feeding the hedgehogs in your garden – your act of kindness with supplementary feeding will be saving many more hedgehogs’ lives than you realise.

A BIG thank you to Charlie who fought tirelessly to save Humphrey with round-the-clock intensive care.

RIP Humphrey.

[Hedgehoggy]

Originally Posted by cara pace

I've also sent it to you Hedgehoggy.

PM received, many thanks.

[pattie may]

Thank you for all your kind words.

I haven't seen a hedgehog in the garden for a while. The food in the garden is not being eaten either. Hopefully all my visitors are tucked up in their beds for the winter.

[Hedgehoggy]

I wish mine were all safely tucked up in their beds! I'm still having to clean the outdoor feeding stations regularly because I have a few still visiting, but their visits are becoming more and more infrequent. I always leave a little dried food and water out all throughout the winter months for any that rouse and venture out their nests in search of a fat reserve top-up before slumbering back down again.

[CharlieCreek]

The three over wintering in our garden have all gone down I am glad to say. Mind the feeding stations still have food and water kept in them and like Hedgehoggy will continue to over the winter.

The girl went down quite early, as soon as the first frost came about five weeks ago.

I started leaving some extra nesting materials dotted around the garden and every morning they were gone. Then the day came when two of the hog homes were bursting to the front doors with the nesting materials and the hog home she had chosen was well and truly stuffed. Havent seen her since, so she had picked up her skirts and thought hmm a tad chilly out there, I'm off to bed!

The lads were a little later, (she chose her own hog home, the brothers chose to share one). The one a bullish little tank and the other a right scamp. However as I expected the 'scamp' started getting up again. He has from the first been the explorer and the most attached to me following me around. I would sit out in the garden and he would climb onto my boots trying to tug the laces, well not trying - he would give them a good old pulling session.

A couple of weeks back, Jayne called me and pointed to the patio steps where he was peering into the house. While has has become more wild and now doesn't bother with people (or run the length of the garden to say hello when he hears me which he did for a long time), he still climbed onto my hand for some treats and to lick my fingers and for tickle under the chin. He stayed up for a couple of nights but then decided that really he should be back with his brother. It's now been a week since we have seen him, which is good news as some of the nights are very cold.

I still check every night though because if there is one hegdehog I expect to see ploughing through the snow, it is him!

[CharlieCreek]

Well, to keep Jayne happy a little girl hog came in yesterday from the RSPCA. So the girl / lad ratio is tipped a little bit!

She was found wandering down a busy road and reported to the RSPCA. They contacted us and brought her over yesterday afternoon. She is only 224 (226 grams today) has worms and mange.

She came in and ate for about 50 minutes solid without stopping, she was a hungry little munchkin. However she is super stubbon about taking any meds at the moment

[willowjay]

So I posted a bit earlier in this thread about my little hog. He was active in the garden during the day, about guinea-pig size, and ate everything put out for him. He would come at midday on to the patio, eat the hedgehog food, have a drink from the bird bath, some more food - and then scuttle off. He came at dusk as well.

So, I put more food out for him at dusk, and he spent most evenings polishing off whatever food was put out for him. He no longer comes during the day, only in the evenings, and eats quite a lot.

This evening I glanced out on to the patio, and - not as a result of a glass of red wine - there were two of them! Both same size - just as lively. So I will double-up the quantities of food and see what happens.

It's cold here, though. Not the snowy north, but frosty. Will they hibernate? Should I keep feeding them?

[CharlieCreek]

The day time visits would have been a bit worrying but as those have stopped that is good news.

It sounds as though they are a reasonable size, and yes it is important if you are able to keep putting food out for them. They have now found you as a regular supply of much needed food at this time of year and that is why they keep coming.

They will hibernate at some point, but there is no set time, they will go down when they choose to. As long as they don't come around in daylight, or seem to be loosing weight then I wouldn't be concerned and simply keep feeding them (which they will very much appreciate) and at some point they will hibernate.

Even if they stop coming on a regular basis it is good to still leave some dry food out as they can become active again at any time.

Enjoy the wine and the hogs!