The good news is that spring is just around the corner and our hedgehogs are starting to wake up, more sightings are possible. Tara and I will be contacting various people so they can have their hoggies back into their gardens, but we will hold out till after the Easter Holidays. The weather has to be a certain night time temperature and hopefully wild food in abundance with nesting material available too. Can we ask everybody to be mindful when they do their gardening, please check before strimming, grass cutting and raking leaves, these mammals do not run when in danger, they curl up tightly, we have had injured hedgehogs here before and it’s quite distressing, a vets intervention is always necessary and it takes a long time to help them recover.

Another good reason to watch before you strim is, it is nearly baby season, hoglets can’t see or hear for the first 3 weeks of life, when mum gets scared she abandons her babies and we are required to step in and hand rear them till they can manage themselves, which also takes time.

All rescue centres have the equipment, food, time and expertise to take in hoglets and provide the critical care they need, they need more warmth because they have no underbelly fur, but the one thing they do have is cuteness, lots of it. Tara is going to be attempting to rear babies for the very first time and she will love it, as I do. They flourish as they get older and, of course, it’s very rewarding to watch them as we have to let them go back where they belong. It’s never easy, especially when we have fed them, toileted them and cared for them and 24/7, because we bond with them.

The problems they face in the wild are man made, cars, dogs and also when people try to kill slugs etc in the garden – slug dies because it’s been poisoned, hedgehog dies too because it eats the poisoned slug. Please save your money, don’t buy anything that can harm wildlife, our prickly pals are much better at killing your garden pests when you are asleep in bed.

We will be selling some lovely handmade items, complete with chocolate treats inside, we have June and Val to thank because they are making knitted bunnies, penguins and, of course, hedgehogs. If anyone would like to support us and purchase any please email us on pricklyhaven@yahoo.com – Sonia deserves our thanks too, for food donation, also Angie and Sheila for their support. Thank you.

Tip of the Week: Don’t feed hedgehogs milk, nuts, mealworms or bread, for further information visit Hedgehog Street, or ring BHPS on 01584 890801.