Cherry Cottage Wildlife Rescue, is a small rural home based , self funded rescue/rehabilitation centre for the care and eventual release of injured and abandoned wildlife , mainly helping hedgehogs and birds.

This all began after we relocated to the countryside after years of living in an urban environment. Daily visitors to the garden were birds, and hedgehogs specifically. After tending to many injured birds and hedgehogs that passed through during our time in the countryside, I decided to create my own dedicated facility to care for the wildlife using my skills of many years in the medical and nursing profession (the principals are the same in any nursing and care!) with members of the public and veterinary surgeries contacting me when they have an injured or abandoned hog or clutch of chicks.

We are trying to raise monies to purchase a new , state of the art incubator, which will most certainly help hoglets and hedgehogs survive illness , particulary at this time of year when temperatures are sub -zero. Many hedgehogs get admitted to the center very cold and hypothermic. This incubator will be a life saver for many.

Whilst I have never before asked for donations until this year , antibiotics and vet consultation fees etc can be expensive and we have raised funds for these in the past, and would like to thank all that have donated to this cause and without doubt contributed to saving the lives of hedgehogs.

Update

Here at Cherry Cottage, we are a small home based rescue/rehabilitation centre that cares for injured and abandoned wildlife across North East Lincolnshire and the Humber area. We help and care for all animals in the wildlife category, among most are hedgehogs and small birds and rely totally on donations and fundraising ideas from all walks of life but with one thing in common……. Caring for animals that wouldn’t survive without our intervention.

Our aim; is to treat all injured/sick animals that arrive at Cherry Cottage, whilst ensuring the eventual release back into their natural habitat.

After living in a rural area for a number of years and seeing so much wildlife is in the area, I decided to create a dedicated ‘A&E’, so to speak, with my own medical and nursing background, for any injured animal that we are contacted about.

We have built a great relationship with our local vet that contacts us when an injured animal is brought into them and who also gives us expert advice, when we need a little bit of assistance, in return for taking them off their busy workplace to provide care.

We give care in every way possible, from providing a little extra feeding, to fostering hedgehogs to volunteers, to providing after care to hedgehogs that have undergone veterinary treatment. We have a number of volunteers that offer a little bit of breathing space for us by fostering hedgehogs that are fit and healthy, however with it being autumn, the chances of their survival so close to the hibernation season is minimal. So our volunteers provide that safe and warm sanctuary for them to survive the winter. Our volunteers fully understand that hedgehogs are not pets and that they are providing them with a better chance of survival until they can be released in the spring. Without these volunteers, we would be overrun for space and facilities so with that I have great appreciation towards them. And with being registered with the British Hedgehog Preservation Society we can now be recognised by everyone and have another avenue of support when needed.

So far this year Cherry Cottage has;

• Cared for over a hundred hedgehogs and birds

• Fostered 4 out to our volunteers

• Released 17 back in their natural habitat

• Currently caring for 31 adult hedgehogs for winter

• And 56 hoglets overwintering

• Dedicated areas for overwintering for hedgehogs

• Proud to be a rescue centre that performs in house microscopy to identify parasites

• Trained to administer subcutaneous fluids in emergency for dehydration, we also administer various medication for a number of hedgehog related illnesses.

Hedgehog population has dwindled by a quarter in the last decade, which is why we don’t see them as much as we use to.

They travel up to a mile a night in the search for food, a mate or a safe place to rest.

Autumn Juveniles born late in the year will not have the fat reserves to survive winter and they need a minimum weight of 650g survive it, that’s where we at Cherry Cottage come in.

We provide them with the warmth they need with ,heat pads in wrapped towels or wrapped blankets as their feet are very sensitive and the cold will permeate through, just like us when we have cold hands and feet.

We ensure they are positioned in a safe location within our grounds so not to get disturbed by predators or other animals. Our outhouse and purpose built arear provide all of this for them and have a constant supply of heat food and water.

Once they are settled and start eating, we give the hogs a diet consisting of tinned cat or dog food and cat biscuits to get them up to that ideal weight for release in the spring. The hoglets (juveniles) will get around the clock feeding by syringe of royal canine puppy milk, which is the next best thing to their mother’s milk, until they are ready for more solid food. It doesn’t sound like much but a hedgehog should be between 1lb6oz – 1lb 13oz before release can even be considered.

As you can imagine with the amount of hedgehogs and hoglets we have at the Cottage, we get through a lot of food and any donation of tinned dog or tinned meaty cat food would help provide them with enough food to last the winter and see them get released in the spring.

It’s very important to remember that hogs hibernate between November to mid-March and may choose that stack of leaves or branches that are piled in your garden. So please think about that before moving or setting that pile on fire.

There is so much more regarding the care and rehabilitation of hedgehogs and we, at Cherry Cottage, are doing our bit to help increase our little prickly friends population and to create full awareness in local towns and villages by trying to create a “Hedgehog Street” which needs hedgehog champions to help put together hedgehog friendly interconnecting gardens to ensure they thrive in our neighbourhood.

Cherry Cottage welcomes all and any questions no matter how small or trivial it may seem. We give talks to groups, schools, etc. about how to help a hedgehog, hedgehog homes, care and treatment of sick and injured hogs, how to create a wildlife garden and much more.

If you are interested in donating in any form possible or want to find out more about becoming one of our volunteer hog foster carers, like Caroline Barley (NELC) and Emma Tomlinson ( Goxhill) please get in touch, all are welcome, supported and so much appreciated.

Please contact Cherry Cottage Wildlife Rescue with any help or advice needed on 07730748361 or follow us on Facebook to keep up to date with the progress of the hogs we have overwintering.

https://www.facebook.com/cherrycottagewildliferescue/