We had an unexpected visitor to our feeding stations today – a hedgehog. Seeing a hedgehog in daytime at this point of the year is not a good sign and could mean something was wrong so Emma went to investigate. She found it was one of this year’s youngsters who seemed fine but was a bit underweight so she popped it in the hedgehog house with some food. We’ll be keeping an eye on the wee one and be supplying extra food to help it put on weight.

As Bonfire night is approaching this is a good opportunity to remind everyone about looking out for hedgehogs in your bonfire piles. These make great home for hedgehogs and they will happily curl up and sleep there, unaware how dangerous it is. Please check your bonfires before lighting and ideally move the whole pile before its lit, or if that’s not possible, use broom handle or strong sticks to lift the pile from the base, shine torches looking and listening for signs of life. Alternatively put chickenwire around the base of large fires which will prevent the animals from straying into the pile.

For more info on hedgehogs see the British Hedgehog Preservation Society

If you’re worried about a hedgehog contact Hessilhead Wildlife Rescue Trust

Here’s a pic of our wee visitor:

 Lindsey