Poppy’s Creche Hedgehog Rescue Centre

UK

GTT is proud to collaborate with Poppy’s Creche in Suffolk, England.

Poppy’s Creche is an entirely self-funded small charity which is run and managed by Ann and her valuable team of volunteers. Poppy’s Creche is named after a very special albino hedgehog, Poppy.

Poppy’s Creche specialises in taking sick and orphaned babies and they work tirelessly, 365 days a year to hand rear the youngsters. Young hoglets need feeding by hand every two hours and this can be exhausting for the hedgehog carers!

In June GTT sponsored our first hedgehog called Spike. He was a few days old and hardly able to stand, Poppy’s Creche thought he may have brain damage which would make him lose his balance. We decided to take a chance and it was the right thing to do, now (in August) Spike weighs 400 grams and has a healthy appetite!

And here is Spike in September 2017. The £50 sponsorship fee went towards Spike’s medicine and food and towards the rescue centre’s operating costs. However depending on the health of the hedgehog costs can rise to £200+.

Spike in January 208. Spike will be released back to where he was found in the Spring. First he will live in the Poppy’s Creche garden pen to acclimatise to being outside….

Green Teen Team also sponsored five heated pads to put inside the baby hedgehog’s boxes to keep them warm.

You can also help by minimising the work of organisations like Poppy’s Creche by following the advice below in your own gardens.

In your garden

Make a hedgehog a home

Hedgehog Holes

Make sure there are hedgehog-sized gaps in your garden fence.  In a single night, a hedgehog can travel 2 to 3 km. A 13cm/5″ gap should allow even the largest hedgehog though.

Feeding

Food and fresh water will encourage hedgehogs to return. Leave out foods like tinned dog or cat food (not fish-based), crushed cat biscuits, or chopped boiled eggs. Specialist hedgehog food can also be bought from wild bird food suppliers.

If you are worried about encouraging other (unwanted) animals to your garden you can create a ‘hedgehog feeding station’:

Never feed hedgehogs milk as it can cause diarrhoea; instead provide plain, fresh water in a shallow bowl.

Hedgehog-friendly gardening

Slug pellets

These can poison hedgehogs. Try using beer traps or sprinkling ground up shells around the plants you need to protect. Try using a garlic wash to protect your plants.

Ingredients:
2 Bulbs of garlic
2 Pints of water

Instructions:
Crush the garlic bulbs
Steam or boil in 2 pints of water for 3 to 4 minutes until blanched
Strain the mixture and make back up to 2 pints
Leave to cool

When ready to use, mix one tablespoon of the mixture in five litres of water and sprinkle on to leaves in late afternoon (in dry weather). Re-apply every two weeks. The mixture dries on the leaves making them unappealing to slugs and snails!

The 2007 UK Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) ‘UK List of Priority Species and Habitats‘ included the European hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) as a species that needed conservation and greater protection. More recently, surveys have shown a decline in the species of 25% in the last decade (Roos, et al., 2012). This is probably due to the loss of hedgerows and use of pestidices in gardens, for more information see here.

Read more about Poppy’s Creche here

Follow Poppy’s Creche on Twitter here

 

Click on magnifier to enlarge