Every once in a while we share news from colleagues in the United Kingdom. Check out the latest news from East Sussex Wildlife Rescue & Ambulance Service (WRAS) written by Founder & Casualty Centre Manager, Trevor Weeks MBE.
These two hedgehogs have come into WRAS’s Casualty Care Centre covered in dried mud after being trapped in a foundation trench on a building site at Westham over the weekend. Builders discovered the two hedgehogs now named “Bill and Ben” and rescued them from the trench.
WRAS volunteers Chris and student Bryony came with me to check out the situation and none of us expected to find such muddy hedgehogs. I have never had to rescue a hedgehogs as badly covered in mud as these before. We often get them with mud on but not with so much caked and dried onto their fur and spines, especially round the faces like this.
WRAS would normally release the hedgehogs back in their home range that same evening, but due to the building work being undertaken and the depth of the trench the hedgehogs are being kept in care for a few days.
The first thing we did was to check to see if they were boys or girls, as we wouldn’t want to keep a female away from her babies at this time of year. Luckily they were boys so they were delivered to the Casualty Centre for a clean up. Student Bryony helped me wash them both.
Now with their spines shining once more the two hedgehogs are being housed and fed in their new accommodation and will be released back at Westham at the end of the week once the trench has been filled in and is no longer a risk. The builders are going to keep an eye on the trench and check it regularly to ensure no others get stuck.
WRAS rescues between 400 and 600 hedgehogs a year. Pevensey Park Road, Rattle Road, Castle View Gardens and the surrounding roads are all very lively areas for hedgehogs certainly a hot spot for them.
Fingers crossed we will get them released safety later in the week.
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