Rescuer asks for help to keep hedgehogs hydrated

A man who has rescued hedgehogs for 30 years has urged people to leave shallow bowls of water outside to help keep the animals hydrated during the heatwave.

John Claxton, 79, from Norwich, said the high temperatures had led to an increase in dehydrated mother hedgehogs abandoning their hoglets.

He also asked the public to check long grass for hedgehogs before using lawnmowers or grass strimmers.

"Hedgehogs are like all mammals, we're dependent on water. But hedgehogs are far more dependent than other mammals," Mr Claxton said.

"If they don't get sufficient water taken on board each night, the risk is that [their] organs start to shut down."

The UK is experiencing its third heatwave of the summer, with temperatures rising above 30C across the country.

Mr Claxton set up TSA Rescue in Norwich and learned to care for hedgehogs after he found one that was injured 30 years ago.

He later undertook training at Vale Wildlife Hospital.

He said that dehydration and injuries from grass-cutting equipment were the two main reasons hedgehogs were being brought to him for treatment.

"[Hedgehogs] need to take on fluid to feed their young because it gets to a stage whereby they can't [provide the fluids due to dehydration], then the mother will say, my survival comes first," he said.

He is currently hand-rearing four hoglets, believing their mother abandoned them due to a lack of water.

Surveys in a 2022 State of Britain's Hedgehogs report estimated there had been a loss of between a third and three-quarters of the hedgehog population nationally in the last two decades

"I get some [hedgehogs with] injuries [from grass-cutting equipment] where they remove part of the head - I get injuries where they remove part of the legs," he said.

He said it made him "angry" when he saw hedgehogs coming in with these kinds of injuries and urged people to check for sleeping hedgehogs before using a grass strimmer.

"Please don't just use the strimmer straight away because the injuries they cause are simply horrendous," he said.

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