It’s the time of year to look out for your hedgehogs
Any hedgehog out during the daytime at any time of year could be sick or injured and in trouble. Advice should be obtained as a matter of urgency from your local hedgehog rescue people.
In the run up to winter you might see small hedgehogs (less than 650gms) around, these are autumn juveniles who won’t make it throught the winter without help. Feeding them good quality tinned dog food (Puppy Chum is said to be the best!) can help them to quickly put that extra bit of weight on before the cold weather hits. Once the frosts start you need to act quickly and either take underweight hedgies in until next Spring, or find a hedgehog rescue group to help with the wee thing. These youngsters haven’t yet stored enough fat in their bodies to hibernate until Spring and survive.
Here’s a list of hedgehog carers outside of the Oban area. For carers in this area please contact us direct.
Other Animals
We are happy to try to find a home for any animal but prefer not to take certain species in due to lack of time to look after them properly, lack of expertise with that particular type of animal, or lack of proper equipment for the animal.
Any animal we don’t know anything about — exotics, wild birds etc — we can contact the relevant people.
Most wild animals have their own rescue groups, we can put you in touch.
Marine animals — stranded dolphins and whales — we can give you numbers to ring.
Animals such as rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters, we don’t have the equipment or time to look after them except in dire emergency. We are happy to advertise them on the website for you, and refer any interested persons back to you — you having the responsibilty about who you choose as the new owner.
Any sick or injured bird or animal you find should be taken immediately to the vet. No charge is usually made for wildies, please contact us if you have problems in our area. The animal is the most important thing, we can sort money out later.
If you witness any kind of animal cruelty contact your local SSPCA inspector straight away. If he’s not available, try the police. Strathclyde police have a Wildlife Crimes Officer, hopefully other forces have them too.
