Centre 'overflowing' with baby hedgehogs

4 hours ago

Grace WoodYorkshire

Rescue centres have seen an increase in demand for looking after baby hedgehogs

Tom Ingall/BBC A baby hedgehog being held by a hand in a plastic glove is being fed with a syringe — Rescue centres have seen an increase in demand for looking after baby hedgehogs

Staff at an animal rescue centre in Bradford have said it will need to "quadruple in size" as it is overflowing with baby hedgehogs.

Hedgehog Emergency Rescue Bingley Yorkshire had recently seen nearly double the usual amount of hoglets being brought in, as well as more births than usual, staff said.

According to rescuers, the hot spell had meant many hoglets were struggling to find enough food and water, with more than 80 animals currently being looked after at the facility.

Centre owner Stephanie Knowles said: "Because of the really hot weather, the mums are really struggling with pregnancy and raising the children. They're just not getting enough water and it's causing problems."

"It's meaning that parasites are coming out and they're getting ill in other ways," Knowles said.

Last month had been the centre's busiest ever June, she added.

Animal lovers are encouraged to leave out water and kitten food for hedgehogs

Tom Ingall/BBC Three hedgehogs crawl on a white cloth near a small dish of cat food — Animal lovers are encouraged to leave out water and kitten food for hedgehogs

As a result, Knowles appealed for support to fund "a large-scale rescue" that would have capacity for 500 animals.

"Most of the hedgehogs are here for around a month," she said.

"Obviously, if they give birth here, they're here for a longer time – so long as they choose to raise their own children."

According to Hugh Warwick, spokesperson for the British Hedgehog Preservation Society, hedgehogs give birth to their young between mid- and late May, and a hot spell can leave them "extremely vulnerable",

"Each time we get a hot spell, we get an absolute flurry of young and baby hedgehogs being taken into rescue," he said.

"Hedgehogs come out at night because that is when their food is available.

"Hedgehog food is the macro invertebrates - the bigger bugs and beasts – and most of these bigger bugs and beasts like cool and damp."

Hedgehog Emergency Rescue Bingley Yorkshire owner Stephanie Knowles says they have outgrown their premises

Tom Ingall/BBC A woman with cropped brown hair wearing rectangular glasses looks away from the camera — Hedgehog Emergency Rescue Bingley Yorkshire owner Stephanie Knowles says they have outgrown their premises

Warwick said that when the weather was hot and dry, the animals would "hide themselves away, meaning there isn't easily accessible food".

"This then means the hedgehog is out at night looking for food, failing to find food, and then, come the dawn, they're still hungry," he explained.

The hedgehogs were then at risk of hypothermia because "they've not got enough energy inside themselves to keep themselves going".

Knowles encouraged people to put out water and kitten biscuits for hedgehogs, but warned against putting out milk as hedgehogs are lactose intolerant.

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