Hedgehogs are frequently trapped when they hibernate over winter
Dave the hedgehog who was found severely underweight in Sproatley, East Yorkshire(Image: Lucky Hedgehog Rescue)
A hedgehog was found dazed and severely underweight after it was suspected he had been trapped in a garage over winter. The hedgehog was spotted wandering around a Sproatley garden in daylight, a sign of severe illness.
Lucky Hedgehog Rescue, based in the Holderness village of Grimston, stepped in to save the hedgehog, who is now known as Dave. The charity’s founder, Lucy Felgate-Baumberg, said he should make a full recovery.
Lucy, who started the charity up from her home, told the Hull Daily Mail: “The finder saw him out in daylight on sunny days in his garden and didn’t realise that was a sign of illness, but also was rather surprised because his garden was totally enclosed.”
Dave got sicker and sicker, and when the finder saw him “sitting there doing nothing” on Saturday, March 7, he contacted Lucky Hedgehog Rescue. A clue in the mystery of how Dave ended up in an enclosed garden is the state of his claws, which are completely worn down and will need to regrow before he can be released back into the wild.
Lucy said the finder recalled that he had previously opened up his garage doors at both ends. She believes Dave got into the garage where he hibernated over winter, only to get stuck when he woke up in spring. “He’s tried to claw his way out,” she said.
It is thought Dave wore down his claws trying to dig his way out of a concrete floored garage(Image: Lucky Hedgehog Rescue)
Lucy said: “When people have been gardening at the end of last year or tidying up, any doors left open, even slightly, hedgehogs will work their way in and snuggle into anything they can find.
“Most people have got sacks of compost, bags, pots, even in garages people store so much stuff they wouldn’t know a hedgehog was there. They will get as far behind everything as they can, especially if it’s not disturbed at all because that makes an ideal hiding place.”
Lucy implored anybody with an outbuilding such as a garage, shed, or greenhouse to “check everything” if they contain items on the floor that a hedgehog could be hiding behind. “Hedgehogs have been known to hibernate inside compost bags and hide in all sorts of places, anywhere safe from the elements and warm,” she added.
Lucy Felgate-Baumberg with a hedgehog called Tiddles at Lucky Hedgehog Rescue CIC(Image: Donna Clifford/Hull Live)
This is even true of buildings that don’t have any holes in them. If the doors have been open at some point, a hedgehog may have snuck inside.
Lucy said the outlook for Dave is good. “He is eating really well at the moment, he is still in the incubator because he was hypothermic,” she said.
“When a hedgehog is sick, it can’t maintain it’s body temperature which is what draws them out into the daytimes because it’s warmer in day than night. Although they can look well, they actually aren’t.
“The chap who found this one [Dave] thought he was fine because he was running around the garden in the sunshine. So this one has been starving and has got ringworm, which makes them very poorly, and ticks.”
Dave will stay longer at the rescue than most patients because he needs to grow his claws back. He has also lost spines through having ringworm, which will also be treated.
Lucy said people can also help the hungry hedgehogs who are waking up in spring by putting out cat biscuits for them which can “save a life”. They can also help by reducing their use of pesticides, which deprives hedgehogs of their natural diet.
If anybody wants to help the rescue with a donation, they can visit the Lucky Hedgehog Rescue website. Lucky Hedgehog Rescue is available 24/7 on 07507791665.
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