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While it's not exactly company news, we couldn't resist helping bolster the media frenzy that has surrounded George the giant hedgehog and Wildlife Aid! Wildlife Aid are our chosen charity - please support them by choosing us as your supplier.
Taken from the Wildife Aid website, 13th November 2007
A hedgehog the size of a football has caused a bit of a stir at Wildlife Aid. Discovered by one of the centre’s volunteers in the garden of friends, initially staff at the centre thought he might be suffering from a condition called ballooning – where air gets trapped under the skin and causes the animal to inflate. However on closer inspection George, as he was named having come in with another hog called Mildred, was found simply to be overweight!Staff searched for a pair of scales to accommodate this enormous hog, and he weighed in at an astounding 2.2 kilos! An average adult hedgehog will weigh between 600 – 700g, so this animal is nearly four times the weight he should ideally be.
Although George is fairly active and obviously eating well, his health is being affected by the excess weight he is carrying. As in humans, carrying this amount of fat could cause obesity-related illnesses such as heart disease, high cholesterol levels along with joint and mobility problems. To tackle the problem George has been put onto a strict diet of cat food, which contains all the correct nutrients needed for a healthy hedgehog. Cat food contains high level of protein – similar to putting him onto the Atkins diet! George is on one meal a day, supplemented with water, and is under the close observation of the Wildlife Aid staff.
The other effect of the excess weight is that George has not yet shown any signs of going into hibernation – which normal sized hedgehogs are now doing up and down the country. His insulating layer of fat is preventing him from feeling the cold, and so his body is not telling him to go to sleep. He is currently being kept in a heated greenhouse to prevent him even trying to hibernate. If he were to start into hibernation there is a real possibility that toxins could be released into his body due to the layers of fat surrounding his internal organs, and this would most certainly kill him.
Wildlife Aid currently has 60 hedgehogs at the centre in Leatherhead. Some are sick or injured, and are being nursed back to health. Many are youngsters, born a little late in the year to successfully survive hibernation as their weight is too low. Hedgehogs should be a minimum of 500g to go into hibernation, so any below this weight will be kept awake until the spring under the care of the staff at the centre, and then re-homed next spring into the gardens of Wildlife Aid members.
If you would like to help the hedgehogs currently residing at Wildlife Aid then please visit our website www.wildlifeaid.com. Here you can Adopt-A-Hedgehog and your money will help towards your hedgehog’s upkeep over the winter months. Or you can make a donation towards the care of all the animals at the centre who are sick or injured. You can even be eligible to re-home one of our youngsters next spring by becoming a Wildlife Aid member.
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