Hedgehog sadness…

[nahthatsnotforme]

Don’t read if you’re already feeling upset….

After a couple of years absence I have been delighted to spot their return on our cameras. In the last week I have bought a bowl for water on the ground (our birdbaths are all tall) and today a hedgehog house was delivered….

And then I went outside to pick strawberries and found one had got entangled in the net and died. I am so upset. I even thought earlier in the week it was a bit of a wildlife hazard and now I’ve killed a hedgehog. I should have taken it off and just let the strawberries go.

Please don’t be unkind. I couldn’t be more sorry.

I’m so sorry. You were not to know. I love the creatures and have despaired over their dwindling numbers. You will make up for this in other ways - I’m going to get rid of my netting now.

I hope your hedgehog house is used! Mine stays empty, sadly. Even the late baby, rescued sick and skinny in December and released as a strapping adult, turned his nose up at it.

I empathise. I found a hedgehog on the road alive but limping. Rescued it, thinking I was doing right thing. Took to vet ended up being euthanized as leg fractured.

Now whilst I'm glad he isn't in pain he was happy enough and I ended up killing him.

I cried and cried.

Better to take to a wildlife place than to vets, they often put down wild animals that could survive, because they don’t have the time or recourses to nurse and rehabilitate them. Hedgehogs can have their legs splinted or amputated. Sometimes you might get lucky and find a vet nurse who will take the animal home.

I’m so upset. The poor thing, I just dread to think how he might have struggled.
@hepsitemizthe house is going in the gap between the greenhouse and the fence, so it should be sheltered from the weather and well away from disturbance. Theres cover both sides so hopefully it will be approved! We’re thinking about adding more cameras but wondering if it’s worth it… once they’re in they’re in after all.

Nets are lethal to hedgehogs but many people don’t realise. My friend sent me a photo of a small hedgehog entangled in net in his garden, luckily he’d found it alive and was able to carefully snip the net and release it. Gardens can be a haven for hedgehogs but also very hazardous: nets, ponds with no way out, swimming pools and chemicals. All the things to avoid. Nets can trap all kind of animals, I never use them, and I wish there were more warnings about the dangers.

Well yes @Christwosheds. Lesson learned ☹️

I couldn't be arsed adding this...
I had rung a wildlife rescue..then videod hedgehog. In fact a specific hedgehog rescue!
They then said leg looked injured and to go to vet.

When we moved here a large hedgehog suddenly appeared out the front as we had just come home and all the dogs were loose on our property and one instinctively went to chase it before I called him off and got the dogs in and the poor thing had scuttled underneath one of our cars.

He or she had rolled up into a ball and we decided to leave the poor thing be as the dog had not touched it and it would be gone by the morning.

Sadly, it was still there in the morning and possibly died of shock.

It was very sad.

Now the dogs are used to seeing hedgehogs of an evening and don’t react but we still get them all inside so that the hedgehogs can go about their business without being scared.

Feel your pain OP. I found a poor blackbird trapped in some mesh I was using to support plants. It's so upsetting.

Horrible lesson, but there is a good choice now of more wildlife friendly protective coverings these days, and I'm much more careful about what I use.

I found one of my blackbirds tangled in the strawberry netting. Sadly it was dead and I’ve never used garden netting since.

I'm so sorry to read that you've lost one of your lovely garden visitors. Please don't be hard on yourself. By putting food out, you may have helped a hedgehog bring up a family over the summer.

We've had lots visit over the years. We currently have three outside right now. One is chasing the other around the food bowl while the other is busy getting stuck in. Until we put a wildlife camera in, we had no idea how loud they snuffle and grunt!

Sadly, ours may no longer be visiting as the field and woodland they come through the hedgehog gap from is under threat from developers. We've been protesting and have a petition going, but it's a David and Goliath situation.

So gutted that our woodland friends will no longer be visiting. If anyone knows how best to fight this kind of thing, please let me know. (Sorry to hijack btw, but in my experience, all wildlife lovers are concerned about any loss.)