Oxton Wild Hedgehog Rehab

01/11/2025

Many of you that have followed this page for years may remember the efforts that occurred by myself and a group of supporters, in pressuring Oxton Parish Council and Oxton Cricket Club, to protect our resident hedgehog population from the village bonfire - which is built weeks in advance, and on a field heavily populated by hogs.

Unfortunately the stipulations were not adhered to this year and the bonfire was up and in situ several nights before a pathetic attempt at fencing was attempted. Had that fencing actually been secure, it would have trapped any hogs inside the perimeter, that had made the bonfire their home over the previous days. Much of the fencing was loose, unpegged at the base, and with enough wire and plastic that hogs could also get trapped in it.

The cricket club eventually conceded that they had NOT done done what was agreed, but this didn’t address the remaining concern of hogs being in the bonfire. I explained that the massive heap could not simply be moved as they would just be crushed and left to die.

A plan was made that once the perimeter was secure, a group of us would put food inside the perimeter overnight, set up traps and a trail cam, and visit on rotation to check for hogs through much of the night. Any found could be safely lifted over the perimeter. This has been ongoing each night, and will also be tonight. There is evidence of the food being eaten, and it’s clearly not cats or foxes, it has the eating pattern of hedgehogs. The perimeter was properly secured by my hubby, since even after the cricket club re did it, there were several places that hogs could have got underneath still. And it’s being checked nightly to ensure no pegs are loose.

The bonfire is being lit tomorrow. Hopefully tonight it won’t rain, and will be fruitful in finding any that come out for food.

I want to say a MASSIVE thank you to those who have worked to raise awareness, contact press, RSPCA, wildlife crime, and held vigil at the bonfire these last few nights. Debbie, Sarah, Vicki and Mari you’ve been amazing. 🦔💚

30/06/2024

‘From a Hedgehog’, by Sue Fairhurst
I love this, thank you Sue for sharing!

28/04/2023

Yes, the pictures are upsetting, but no apology for sharing them, it's vital to raise awareness of the harm done by kids football nets as summer is coming. Please RAISE the off the ground, or better still put them away after use.

03/01/2023

For what to feel wild hogs, see previously posted article. This is so sad, thankfully she’s no longer suffering.

Despite being rammed full I took delivery of the first patient in 2023 yesterday. A female found in daylight in the middle of a grass area on a housing estate.

On closer examination she was emaciated, had severe breathing issues, and all of her teeth were rotten, to the point all of the bottom ones were loose. She had been unable to eat much for a long time.

She was given basic treatment and was due to be taken to the vet to be euthanased today but was dead this morning.

When you are offering food to wildlife please remember they do not have dentists to check their teeth every 6 months. We prefer to offer dry kibble - small cat, kitten, or puppy biscuits - as a top-up to their natural diet as crunching helps clean their teeth.

Do not give sultanas, mealworms, peanuts, nor milk, all of which cause problems or severe illness.

02/11/2022

What can I feed visiting wild hedgehogs (that is good for them?)

Winter is coming, and our wild hoggies need our support. However please do not encourage them into your garden if you have a dog with a prey drive who will pick them up. This causes terrible injuries to hedgehogs. As winter approaches, young juvenile hogs especially are desperately trying to gain weight to survive hibernation. At the same time their natural food sources are dwindling and they increase their eating of slugs and snails (which are usually a tiny proportion of their diet). This hugely increases sickness and death from lungworm and other internal parasites which are carried by slugs and snails. Offering supplemental feeding throughout winter really helps support your local hedgehog population and reduces risk of death from illness and starvation. Contrary to popular belief, hedgehogs wake regularly throughout winter, and often don’t hibernate until January. Providing supplemental feeding throughout the year, supports nursing females, babies, and autumn juveniles, as well as adults struggling with dwindling natural food sources.

Wild hedgehog rescues regularly see the devastating impact of feeding wild hedgehogs mealworms. Mealworms are very high in phosphorus, and hedgehogs will selectively eat them in preference to other foods offered alongside them. High phosphorous levels cause calcium to be stripped from the bones, to maintain blood calcium levels, and this leads to severe metabolic bone disease - painful, thin, weak and bendy bones, multiple breaks/fractures (eg of legs, ribs, pelvis, spine) and terrible pain. The only outcome 99% of the time is to euthanise the hedgehog to alleviate severe suffering.

Imagine this from the perspective of a hedgehog. You may be only putting out a few mealworms, but hedgehogs can travel miles, and visit many many gardens. This means they may selectively only eat the mealworms from every garden they visit, a bit like offering a child the choice between sweets and a healthy option for every meal - they are likely to always choose the sweets! To prevent bone disease, the ideal calcium to phosphorus ratio of food is 1:1 or 1:1.5.

The table in the images show calcium and phosphorous ratio’s in commonly fed foods, you can see why this is a problem..! Muesli type meals sold for hedgehogs are also high in phosphorus, (they usually contain mealworms, peanuts, sunflower seeds and sticky dried fruit which rots teeth). These are marketed for hedgehogs by businesses that want to sell their product, but that doesn't mean they are appropriate. Likewise feeding muscle meats on their own, eg chicken, beef etc is also extremely high in phosphorous.

I write this with the hope that if you are reading it, you care greatly about the welfare of the hogs in your garden, and do not want to feed them things which are known to be harmful to their health. Please, on your part, also assume that this is written with the same aim, and with experience of caring for lots of hogs (hundreds), and also the shared experience of a huge UK network of wild hedgehog rehabilitators, wildlife vets, and wildlife hospitals.

So, in answer to the question, what can I feed visiting wild hogs, that is good for them..?

> It's easy.

1) A hedgehog specific biscuit, or

2) Cat biscuits (any flavour will do*) or

3) Wet cat or dog food (any flavour will do*).

*please read further on for more details

It really IS as simple as that. So if you wanted a short answer, please don't feel you have to read any further 🙂 For those of you with all the if’s, but’s, and maybe’s, please do read on.

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First, more information about what you CAN safely feed them as above...

Hedgehog specific biscuits:
Eg Ark wildlife original hedgehog biscuits (NOT the Ark mix).
https://www.arkwildlife.co.uk/product/hedgehog-food-uk/ This doesn't get eaten by the neighbourhood cats, the hedgehogs like it (please bear in mind that it WILL take them a few days to get used to a change in food), and the wild birds finish off any bits leftover. I have no affiliation with Ark wildlife, its simply that our wild hogs will eat it. There are other alternatives hedgehog biscuits available, however I cant attest for the nutritional balance or completeness of others. Biscuits are also good for their teeth, do not freeze in winter, or go off and attract flies in summer.

Cat Biscuits:
People often ask me which one? That depends entirely on you and your budget. It does not need to be a kitten biscuit (unless you know you have some very young hogs visiting just out of their nest) - cat biscuits are small enough in size for hogs to manage. The flavour does not matter. I repeat, the flavour does not matter. Chicken, fish, rabbit, duck... its all protein just the same. The “dont feed hedgehogs fish flavoured food” is an old wives tale which gets endlessly circulated on the internet. And for those who say “but fish isn't a natural diet for a hedgehog”, how many hedgehogs have you seen hunting chickens, rabbits or ducks...? A good place to get cat biscuits in bulk at a low cost per kilo is zooplus.co.uk, we use Smilla which is a complete food, and is as low as £2.13/kg, and wild hogs eat it readily. Rescues up and down the land feed cat and dog food which contains fish (and all other proteins). As far as I know, no hedgehogs have turned into snorkelling fish stalkers in the local ponds.... Cat biscuits are also good for their teeth, do not freeze in winter, or go off and attract flies in summer.


Wet Cat or Dog Food:
Again, people often ask me which one? And the answer is the same as above - it depends on your budget, and the flavour does not matter, for all the reasons already discussed above. We dont feed wet food to our wild garden hogs here. It gets extremely cold in winter and is at risk of freezing, and in warmer weather it is at risk of going off and attracting flies, which is the last thing visiting wildlife needs.

Still with me? Great. Read on for more answers to the common issues raised by the good folk who feed hedgehogs in their garden….. all the following are from common conversations.

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But the hedgehogs will only eat mealworms!

Okay. This has to be the most common thing rescues hear, usually in a frustrated despairing tone..! Let me ask you something. Would you feed your child nothing, and I mean nothing, but chocolate? No. What about if they had a tantrum and refused other food? Im guessing still no. Thats because you have some common sense and know that regardless of the fact they love it, a diet of chocolate is not good for them.

Please apply that same common sense to the wild hedgehogs in your garden. Yes, they love mealworms. Yes, if you've been feeding loads of mealworms and you change to a proper, nutritionally complete diet, they are likely to initially ignore it. But they will eat when they are hungry! And I know this because every year, we admit ill hogs, from members of the public who insist they will not eat anything apart from mealworms. And every single one of those hogs, when mealworms have not been on offer, have caved in and eaten the food available. For some thats taken a day, some two, some three or four days. BUT if you are STILL offering a bowl of mealworms alongside other food, of course they are going to eat the mealworms and leave the food (think of the child with chocolate!). So PLEASE ditch the (expensive) mealworms, so that they only have healthy food on offer. And wait. They will come back and eat.



But if I feed proper food, the cats/dogs/fox/(insert relevant animal as appropriate) will eat it!

You have two choices - feed a hedgehog biscuit/mix the cats wont touch such as Ark original, OR place the food in a cat/fox proof feeder. You can buy these (riverside woodcraft do a great feeding station, see link below). Or you can accept that the local felines might be happy to take the odd bite of an evening. We have several open feeders with cat biscuits, and despite this we lose very little to local cats (we have a wildlife camera).

https://www.riversidewoodcraft.co.uk/eco-hedgehog-feeding-station/

And some others:

https://www.wildcare.co.uk/hedgehog-house-kit-11085.html

https://www.arkwildlife.co.uk/product/hedgehog-feeding-station/

or make one VERY cheaply like this, from a plastic under bed storage box....

https://www.wildthingsfood.co.uk/category/how-to/

https://littlesilverhedgehog.com/2020/06/04/hedgehog-cafe-mark-ii/

But cat food/hedgehog food/dog food isn't their natural diet..

Neither are mealworms. Or peanuts, or biscuits, or cake, or wagon wheels, or any of the other, frankly ridiculous things which people feed wild animals. However, cat and dog food is nutritionally balanced and complete, and will NOT cause skeletal deformities, raging tooth decay, nutritional deficiencies or spine and fur loss - all of which occur with an inappropriate diet. Mealworms do not exist in the wild. Nor do any of the items above...



So what is a hedgehogs natural diet?

Hedgehogs are not insectivores as many people think. Studies have shown they are omnivorous, and opportunistic feeders. These studies have analysed faeces and stomach contents of wild hogs, and food preference trials in captive wild hedgehogs.

The main bulk of the diet is caterpillars, beetles, millipedes, earthworms and earwigs. Slugs and snails form a very small percentage of their diet (and transmit deathly lungworm). They also eat frogs, toads, small mammals, carrion, and eggs. It is thought that any fruit and vegetable matter is eaten incidentally (i.e. attached to their food) rather than intentionally. Diet will vary with habitat - and available species.

The aim of providing supplemental feeding is not to try and replicate their natural diet - you cant. But you CAN provide a nutritionally balanced food to support their natural diet.


But why cant I feed dried fruit, sultanas, cake, biscuits, wagon wheels, etc etc..? They like it..

So does the child who only wants to eat chocolate... but seriously - rescues are admitting an ever increasing volume of hogs with severe dental disease, even in young hogs. How severe you ask? One rescue had a hog with such severe dental disease, the jawbone had become infected and crumbled. Hogs cannot clean their teeth. Sweet sugary foods cause dental decay in other mammals too. PLEASE do not feed these things.


But I like giving them a treat..

They are wild animals. The concept of treats is a human one, very tied into human emotion. Wild animals do not understand treats, they will eat what is available. The best way of ‘treating’ your wild hogs is to feed them safe, nutritionally balanced and appropriate food.



But the gardener/ my neighbour/someone on the telly (insert appropriate term here) says its fine to feed them mealworms…

Ask yourself what they know about the care of wild hogs? How much research have they done? Sadly there are still some less enlightened and up to date rescues who tell people to feed these items. All I can say to you, is that the above information is evidence based, and supported by some of the largest and most experienced rescues and wildlife hospitals in the UK.

Lastly, if you've made it this far, thanks for reading, and for caring about our native wild hoggies.

Lynda

04/10/2022

This is just gorgeous!

11/06/2022

Please don’t strim 💚

After no mow May, I’ve been hand cutting our long swathes of grass, which allowed this little one to hop out of the way unharmed. It’s going to take me literally ten times as long but that’s okay 🙂 Our garden has lots of frogs!

It’s not just hoggies which suffer horrific and often fatal strimmer injuries 🦔🐸🌱🍃

31/05/2022

Not hedgehogs but so important at this time of year. Please please leave fledglings alone and keep away so parents can return to feed them.

26/05/2022

***PONDS and water features*** I’m commenting on lots of posts at the moment in pond and wildlife groups, to try and encourage safe exits for hedgehogs and other wildlife. Hedgehogs cannot swim indefinitely. They become stressed, exhausted and drown. Please make your water features and ponds safe for animals to exit. Just because you haven’t seen a hedgehog doesn’t mean they aren’t visiting - don’t let the first one you see be floating dead in your pond (this is a story told to rescues far too often). Make your water safe 🦔💜 and read on… photo is just for attention as it’s that time of year… 😍

The safest escape route is always a beached area. I’m well versed in swimming (and sadly, drowning) hedgehogs after running a rescue for years, and also used hydrotherapy so understand hedgehogs behaviour when in water as we’ve observed so many.

🦔 Hedgehogs will almost always swim in a straight line until they hit an obstacle. They will not aim for a ramp. So they will swim until they hit the pond edge. If that pond edge is inescapable because it’s steep, they will follow the edge until they happen upon an exit accidentally, whether that’s a beachy slope, or a *sturdy immovable* escape ramp.

🦔 this means that escape ramps which run along the side of your pond are more likely to get found and used than one which begins in the middle of your pond.

🦔 the escape ramp needs to take them out of the water to ground level.

🦔 a struggling 2kg hog is strong enough to dislodge plant pots and kick them over, whilst attempting to not drown. Don’t rely on loose pots to save them.

🦔 Just because you’ve never seen a hog in your garden doesn’t mean they aren’t there 😉 unfortunately experience demonstrates that many feel they don’t need to provide safe routes out of their pond until they find a dead hedgehog floating in it, and are distressed by their finding. Still much less distressing than drowning.

🦔 Think like a hog. If you were panicking, drowning and trying to escape, would you want to try and get your hands and feet balanced on chicken wire (think one of those assault course nets you climb up!) or would you want a secure, solid and non slippery foothold, which isn’t going to cut your skin or trap/break your legs?

🦔 A round slippery branch/twig cannot provide either a foothold or safe and wide enough route out for an adult hog. It would be like you trying to walk a wet tightrope. Planks are solid, easily secured and can have horizontal grooves cut in for footholds. They can also run along the side of the pond, and made wide enough for a big hog.

🦔🦔🦔🦔🦔🦔🦔🦔

26/03/2022

Just been out to feed our resident hoggies and spotted a huge piggy waiting in the garden for their supper. Bit rattly but a very good weight and nice plump shape. 💚🦔

30/10/2021

Coming up to Guy Fawkes…. PLEASE if you’re gonna have a bonfire, build it just before lighting. Or move the entire heap before lighting to check for wildlife. Bonfires are like a hedgehog hotel, they are drawn to them as safe nesting, but then get burned alive. It’s a horrible and unnecessary way to die.