Under Pressure

Now that we have exceeded the total number of admissions from the whole of last year, we are feeling the heat and immense pressure that this brings. Because of the effect that the heatwave is having on our wildlife, rescues all over the country are inundated with animals. We are doing everything we can to keep our doors open for the rest of the summer but, in order to do that, we have decided we have no option but to temporarily limit the amount of new patients we are admitting.

Hopefully this is just for a short period. Our priority has to be giving our current patients the very best care. We currently have over 90 hedgehogs in our care, many of them pregnant, and we also have a lot of very sick baby hedgehogs. With soil as it is currently - rock hard - and no food around, hedgehogs are starving and thirsty. They cannot find the food they so badly need. When they are weak, they easily succumb to parasites and illness and, in extreme cases, mothers will abandon their nests and their young if they are unable to feed them. As well as over 90 hedgehogs we have curlew, oystercatcher, 25 owls, a buzzard, a cygnet, a polecat, many ducklings and garden birds, and a very young fawn, to name just a few.

Starving baby hog tangled in rubbish

"We don't want to limit numbers," says Penny Hunt, Co-founder. "But we have no choice. We are working hard to stabilise the animals we currently have at the Rescue. They have to be our priority. Unfortunately the weather conditions are the worst they can possibly be for hedgehogs and their babies at this time of year and we are doing all we can for them and all the other animals that are suffering."

"All we ask for at this time is your understanding," adds Jane Carpenter, Co-founder. "When you call us, please follow any instructions given on our voicemail if you need to make contact with us. Often we are tied with difficult feeding regimes,or medications rounds, as well as everything involved in the day to day running of a wildlife rescue. If you can deliver patients to us, that would help enormously.

"Please be patient and explore alternatives while you are waiting to hear from us, but please don't let anything suffer. Take the animal to your nearest vet if you can't get hold of us, they usually won't charge for wildlife. We will do everything possible, but have to take this step to protect the animals in our care right now. We hope to be back to full capacity shortly."

If you would like to help us get these animals back to their wild lives, please consider supporting us, either with a donation (click here), or by sending us supplies (more information here). Thank you so, so much in advance. Every donation of any size makes a real difference to our work.

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