Séve

Yesterday Gracie and Ben's finders heard another baby crying, in the undergrowth behind their garden. They searched and found a poor shaking baby dragging himself along using his front legs; his back legs trailing behind. He was covered in blood and swarms of flies. They immediately brought him in. Poor little Hobo was starving and seriously dehydrated, and in a lot of pain. Not only from the wounds, but he was massively distended and needed toileting (baby hedgehogs can't wee or poo by themselves, they need mum to stimulate them). After cleaning hundreds of fly eggs from his wounds I found a very deep puncture wound on his back, close to his spine. With his wounds cleaned and antibiotics and pain relief onboard I reunitied Hobo with his siblings. They immediately cuddled up to him, bringing him comfort and warmth. All the babies are being bottle fed with special formula, but I put out solid food, so they can wean themselves when ready. Last night Gracie and Ben investigated the dishes, several times, but poor little Hobo remained in the bed all night long. Below you can see Gracie exploring the solid food, And Ben climbing over Hobo, who is laying across the doorway. This morning I had his spine and leg x-rayed. Sadly Hobo's femur (the thigh bone) has been crushed. This, and the deep puncture wound on his back, is a typical dog bite injury. The bones of babies this young are still forming, so aren't sharply defined on x-ray. But Hobo's right femur is just invisible, it's so badly crushed. But... If there's one thing I've learned in the years I've spent mending broken hedgehogs, is that they are full of surprises. So I will continue nursing Hobo, healing his wounds and tending to his needs, and we shall all watch and see if and how he mends. His bones are still developing and forming, so he does have a very slim chance, with lots of support.

Hedgehogs are pretty clever at building a good solid nest that they can hibernate in all winter (it's a myth that they voluntarily change nests!), but even the best build can become unstable or flooded in this terribly stormy weather. But the clever hedgehog hasn't survived 15 million years without learning a trick or two, and hedgehogs will have a plan B nest made, just in case of emergencies. But if forced to rise from a flooded nest they will need to restock their energy supply, before returning to hibernation, so please ensure you leave out a dish of dry cat food and some water.