So I’ve now released 6 of my 12 hogs back into the wild. And ever since my garden has been full of hedgehog poo. Not that I mind, however, it’s great so many of them have decided my garden is a nice place to call home but I would really prefer that they didn’t do it right outside the backdoor and the patio windows. Going out to feed them after dark is becoming a bit like running the gauntlet…..

And whilst on the topic of hedgehog poo I’ve often wondered if it would make good fertilizer. I think I’ll dig it into a couple of flower tubs and find out. At least that gets it off the patio.

I had been hoping to release another 2 hogs yesterday but they’re not quite ready yet. I’ll probably release them this weekend once they’ve benefitted from some homeopathic treatments to boost their immunity to internal parasites. I must admit homeopathy has been one of the most amazing things I’ve come across for treating hedgehogs. The results after just one treatment are astounding. I’ve had hedgehogs collapse and, technically, die yet I’ve managed to bring them around again with some Carbo Veg and for treating any internal parasites I use Sulphur 6c. Incidently, I’ve found Sulphur good for treating ringworm too, an overnight improvement! I now have a rather extensive collection of homeopathic remedies and lots of literature on treating animals with alternative therapies. Some people might say those types of treatments have huge question marks hanging over them as to their effectiveness. All I can say is they’ve been a life saver for many of my hedgehogs. I now use them regularly, alongside conventional medicine, when treating the hogs.

 The early release for my garden hogs is certainly being put to good use. I have heard mating taking place and I can see signs of searching for nest spots. There are now several tunnels leading into the Rosemary bush and, seeing as that’s right next to the patio and all the piles of hedgie poo, I’m certain that its been selected as a nesting site.

My bedroom window is right above the Rosemary bush. I really hope the hedgehogs, if they decide on another romantic encounter, keep the noise down. They woke me at 3am the last time with all their snuffling and snorting…… 

Welcome to my Hog Blog. A chance for me to tell whosoever is out there reading it all about the antics of my hedgehog charges. In case anyone is wondering why I have hedgehogs I’ll give you a little background info. I’m a hedgehog carer for The Hedgehog Helpline, something I’ve been doing officially since May 2007. In the last 10 months I’ve had over 100 hedgehogs brought to me for treatment. 75-80% of these have been successfully re-released back into the wild. There are casualties, unfortunately, and despite my best efforts there are those I simply can’t save no matter what I do. I always feel terrible when one of the hedgehogs I’m treating dies but I can’t even begin to explain how wonderful it feels to be able to release a newly fit and healthy hedgehog back into the wild. Especially if, as is regularly the case, the chances of them surviving when they were first brought to me weren’t all that good.

 Talking of releasing hedgehogs I’m just getting ready to release another few now. Over Winter I had 12 hedgehogs in my care. All of whom were far too small to make it through the Winter and hibernation period. To stand any chance of survival hogs must be at least 600gms, any smaller and they will die whilst hibernating or won’t be able to hibernate and then will probably starve to death due to the lack of food available. The 6 largest hedgehogs out of my Winter 12 have been released now and are all doing really well. How do I know this?? Several were released into my garden to disperse naturally and the others I passed along for release into other peoples gardens which are ideal for hogs. The hogs I passed along to others are all doing well and feeding well I have been informed by email. Those hogs released into my garden, well, they come out each night and pig themselves silly on the food I put out for them. They wander up and have a nose through my patio windows. One even likes to christen my backstep on a nightly basis. And 2 have already found each other and “paired up”. Which is great news for my local hedgehog population and, hopefully, means I’ll have the privilage of seeing tiny hoglets (the official name for baby hedgehogs) foraging in my garden with their mother in the not too distant future. I’ll keep you posted on that one…..

As for the remaining 6 they’ll be leaving me shortly. They are all a good size already but are not quite as large as I’d like them to be yet. A couple more weeks of feeding up, hopefully the weather will continue improving, and they’ll be good to go. Then what will I have to do each evening?? No hogs to clean out, feed, vaccinate and treat??? No worries. I’ll be out in my garden each night keeping an eye on those I’ve released, taking photos to add to my blog and setting up my “Hog Cam”……