On Saturday, Nadia and I went to Shepreth Wildlife Park to visit their Hedgehog Hospital to finalise the details of Nadia's Green Pitch 2013 winning idea: Hedgehog Re-homing. 

We were greeted by Beth who is also an Anglia Ruskin University student and volunteers at the hospital. Firstly we got to hold one of the Hedgehogs who were going through their daily weigh-in. Beth told us about the daily routine to ensure the Hedgehogs are clean, fit and healthy. Apparently Hedgehogs love cat food (no fish) so we will be getting cases in preparation for our new residents! Some of the Hedgehogs come to Shepreth in quite a bad way, some are RTA's (Road Traffic Accidents) but others may have experienced issues during hibernation and so are extremely underweight. 

The big day - 23rd April (Cambridge)

Other preparation for the big day is to create their temporary enclosure. This is because the hospital operates a slow release programme where the Hedgehogs are provided with houses and an enclosure (wire mesh) and also fed cat food at dusk, until the Hedgehogs dig out and find their new homes. We will continue to put food out until it stops being eaten. 

Our 3 new residents will likely be 2 males and 1 female due to the ratio the hospital has at the time. 

The beauty about Nadia's idea is that this can be a continuing link with the hospital, providing re-homing facilities for the Hedgehogs but also an opportunity for our students to learn. In the future there is scope to GPS track the Hedgehogs and so will provide a great opportunity for research. 

What we need from you: NEWSPAPER We will need bedding for our residents, but going forward if you keep any of your newspapers we can get them over to Shepreth for the Hedgehogs they are still looking after. 

If you have any questions, or want to get involved - please just contact me f.rust@angliastudent.com

Cheers

Fran & Nadia