324 hedgehogs rescued by RSPCA in this area

The charity will be called out on a regular basis to rescue sick, injured and orphaned wild animals and birds as the breeding season starts.

More than 2,700 hedgehogs were admitted to RSPCA national wildlife centres last year with almost 12,000 coming through their doors in the past five years.

Traditionally, April starts to see more hedgehogs coming into the charity, as they leave hibernation in search of food and its rescue teams also see a surge in other wildlife in Spring such as birds, as the breeding season gets underway.

The most common reasons hedgehogs come into the RSPCA are because they are orphaned, underweight, injured or exhibiting abnormal behaviour indicative of ill health.

Despite the lockdown, RSPCA rescue teams are continuing on the frontline as designated key workers and the charity has launched an emergency appeal to help it continue to rescue, rehabilitate and release the animals most in need through the crisis.

Since the start of the year and throughout lockdown, the RSPCA has responded to 10,817 incidents about wildlife, 540 of which have been about hedgehogs.

RSPCA scientific officer Evie Button said: “Regardless of coronavirus, wild animals still need rescuing by the RSPCA and breeding season is the start of a really busy time for us.

“We’ll have lots of calls about baby birds, orphaned fox cubs and hedgehogs which have come out of hibernation and need help to build up their body weight.”

Visit the www.rspca.org.uk/covid website to support the RSPCA’s emergency treatment teams.

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world.

But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers – and consequently the advertising that we receive – we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspaper.

Thank you