It’s a good thing that we are very thorough when sorting through our skips! All of the waste put into our skips is hand sorted to make sure that everything that can be recycled is recycled. And we had an unusual find this week – a hibernating hedgehog!
The sleepy beast had settled into a ‘hedgehog house’ that had been discarded by the owner unaware that the spiky creature had made it his home for the winter.
We were able to transfer the hedgehog (now christened ‘Skippy’!) out of harm’s way and contact the wonderful folks at the hedgehog hospital in Halverston. After arriving at the hospital on Thursday, Skippy was found to weigh only 300 grams – almost half the expected weight for a hedgehog of his age.
He had 90 ticks on his body, all of which had to be removed by hand, and these were causing him to become very dehydrated and underweight. Since receiving a dose of antibiotics on Sunday he has since gained 100grams of weight and is now eating and drinking very well.
It is expected that Skippy will make a full recovery, but for the time being will be kept indoors until warmer, drier weather arrives.
At this time of year, please do have a quick check of boxes and hollow miniature ornaments before you discard them – you never know what might be lurking within!