London Colney Hedgehog Rescue
(Reg. Charity no.: 1191141)
REHABILITATION FOR SICK, INJURED AND ORPHANED HEDGEHOGS IN LONDON COLNEY, HERTS & THE SURROUNDING AREAS
My name is Esther and I run a rescue centre from my home in London Colney.
"London Colney Hedgehog Rescue" was formed in 2012 and currently takes in 250-300 casualties per year. We have recently become a registered charity. Most hedgehogs come in from throughout Hertfordshire and the outskirts of Essex however some have come from much further afield. The Rescue was set up to rehabilitate sick, injured and orphaned hedgehogs with the aim to release them safely back into the wild. Where possible, hedgehogs are released back to the area or as close as possible to where originally found/rescued. We have a group of regular volunteers who help clean, feed, rescue, transport, treat and house them. The rescue is self-funded and receives no public funding therefore to keep the rescue going we accept donations of food, fleeces, newspapers, and money from kind hearted people. All pounds and pennies received buy food, medications, and pay for veterinary treatment. We have an Amazon Wish-list, please search: “The Hedgehog Lady” or search for us on Facebook to keep up to date with the rescues; “The Hedgehog Lady – London Colney Hedgehog Rescue” It all began in 2012 when I discovered underweight baby hedgehogs, (known as hoglets) out during daylight in my garden. I had never seen anything like it, they were so adorable but helpless. After researching and frantically phoning around for advice, I found out that they needed help and rescuing. With the guidance of a Wildlife Hospital and my vets, I took them in and started to look after them. Once they had gained enough weight and were fit and healthy, they were released back into my garden. After completion of a First Aid and Rehabilitation Course at The Vale Wildlife Hospital in 2013 along with more help and guidance from my lovely vets, I set up "London Colney Hedgehog Rescue" I haven’t looked back since, and currently house up to 80 hedgehogs at any one time. We "micro-chip" all hedgehogs before release. This is providing us with some amazing and valuable research. If they come back into the rescue or are picked up on scanners in gardens or at local vets, we can see their unique chip number, enabling us to identify the hedgehog and log all data. We can see their history of age, treatment and release area. To date (24/12/2020), we have Micro-chipped over 1000 hedgehogs since 2016. |
Below are some examples of the work that we do
WARNING GRAPHIC IMAGES!
I apologise for the graphic photos but feel it must be brought to the attention of the public in order to raise awareness
WARNING GRAPHIC IMAGES!
I apologise for the graphic photos but feel it must be brought to the attention of the public in order to raise awareness
This is Blossom the hedgehog. Blossom was attacked by a dog in a field in Colney Heath. The owner was unaware and thought her dog had just cut its tongue on something. She was found again a day later on the other side of the field but this time the dog carried it to its owner.
The German Shepherd's teeth ripped her skin and narrowly missed her skull but part of it was exposed. At the vets we almost decided to have her put to sleep but because she was eating and looked such a healthy hedgehog (apart from her horrific injury) we decided to give her a chance. A vet (Natasha) at Medivet in Radlett managed to stitch her back together and put a drain in. Part of the wound re-opened but I managed to keep it clean by flushing it 3 times a day and used Manuka Honey to help it heal. The bottom right photo is her today. We are pleased to confirm that she is doing really well and will hopefully be well enough to be released back into the wild in the future. |
This little girl is called Linny.
Linny arrived on 20th, dehydrated, cold and emaciated. She weighed only 289g. I was very surprised that she survived the first night and very luckily, today she is still with us but only making a little improvement. Her weight should be at least more than double. Its more than likely that she only just survived winter hibernation but if she wasn't rescued when she was then I'm pretty sure that she would have died. She was found out during the day, wobbling in a field in Harpenden. Also her front adult teeth seemed to not have grown through for some reason. Fingers crossed she will gradually get better. I'm still having to give her daily rehydration fluids to keep her going. |