Spike the orphaned hedgehog rescued (From Daily Echo)
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New Forest Wildlife Park rescues baby hedgehog
8:43am Tuesday 17th July 2012 in Environment
By Chris Yandell, Chief Reporter, New Forest
Spike the baby hedgehog
SHE sits in the palm of his hand with room to spare.
No bigger than a small bar of soap, this baby hedgehog called Spike is one of the tiniest creatures ever nursed by Jason Palmer and his colleagues at New Forest Wildlife Park.
Weighing less than 200g, she was found abandoned and defenceless in the Hampshire countryside.
Her mother is thought to have been hit by a car or poisoned by slug pellets.
Luckily her baby was spotted by an eagle-eyed member of the public before she died of cold or starvation.
Last week the Daily Echo reported the rapid decline of the hedgehog in the UK.
A survey estimated that there are only one million hedgehogs left, a fall that is being blamed partly on a decline in their habitat.
But Spike is thought to be thriving following a sharp increase in the number of slugs and snails – thanks to the wet weather.
She was only five or six weeks old when she arrived at the park in Deerleap Lane, Longdown, and needed specialist care to survive.
Mr Palmer , the centre’s animal manager, said: “Hedgehogs rescued by the public and brought to us are normally bigger.
“This one stayed in a little warm box before being transferred to a small room with plenty of places to run around and hide. She was given specialist veterinary milk followed by tinned kitten food and crushed peanuts.”
The prickly creature has since been released back into the wild but there are other hedgehogs at the park for visitors to view.
Guides are staging animal encounter sessions on Tuesdays and Thursdays, allowing families to enjoy close-up view of the centre’s four-legged friends.
Comments(10)
southy
says...
9:59am Tue 17 Jul 12
diesel64 wrote:Try bring in Toads or Frogs into the Garden, they to will eat slugs and snails.
Wish I had loads in my garden to eat all the slugs - grass is awash with them first thing in the morning !!!!
diesel64
says...
10:13am Tue 17 Jul 12
southy wrote:Thanks - thats a plan I think as fed up with the horrible things
diesel64 wrote: Wish I had loads in my garden to eat all the slugs - grass is awash with them first thing in the morning !!!!Try bring in Toads or Frogs into the Garden, they to will eat slugs and snails.
hulla baloo
says...
10:42am Tue 17 Jul 12
How about kidnapped and the ransom never of slugs never paid?
In reality, not really a clue.
southy
says...
1:45pm Tue 17 Jul 12
Georgem
says...
4:47pm Tue 17 Jul 12
southy wrote:There were some hedgehog flavour crisps a few years ago, weren't there? Never had any myself.
I wonder what Spike would taste like skined cook and put between to slices of bread.
IronLady2010
says...
6:19pm Tue 17 Jul 12
dizzychick
says...
10:25pm Tue 17 Jul 12
southy wrote:I wonder what you would taste like skinned and between two slices of bread??
I wonder what Spike would taste like skined cook and put between to slices of bread.
IronLady2010
says...
10:41pm Tue 17 Jul 12
dizzychick wrote:Not very nice! Reading his posts are bad enough!
southy wrote:I wonder what you would taste like skinned and between two slices of bread??
I wonder what Spike would taste like skined cook and put between to slices of bread.
southy
says...
12:18pm Wed 18 Jul 12
Georgem wrote:Could not tell you if there was or was'nt, if there was more than likely it was at a time when I was working overseas.
southy wrote:There were some hedgehog flavour crisps a few years ago, weren't there? Never had any myself.
I wonder what Spike would taste like skined cook and put between to slices of bread.
But i do remember them testing a few new flavours.
diesel64 says...
9:43am Tue 17 Jul 12