Orphaned hedgehog babies face new threat from garden snails

Unusually large numbers of orphaned and underweight hedgehog babies have been found this summer, Yle reports. Volunteers caring for wild animals say the young animals are now also at risk from lungworms carried by grove snails.

Hedgehog babies weighing less than 100 grams have been found wandering alone as early as July, even though mothers normally wean their young towards the end of summer. Babies smaller than a fist leave the nest early only when their mother is no longer providing food, according to Minna Pellinen, an animal welfare adviser in North Savo. The mother may have been injured or killed.

Many small hedgehogs have been found by roadsides or in gardens in the middle of the day this summer. Pellinen said this is always a bad sign and that she could not remember seeing so many orphaned babies in recent years.

Similar observations have been made in the Ostrobothnian regions, around Kokkola and in the Seinäjoki area. Animal welfare volunteers in both regions have taken in several dozen orphaned hedgehogs.

Hedgehogs increasingly die or become injured because of traffic, construction work, robotic lawnmowers and trimmers. Overly tidy gardens and winters with little snow also make conditions more difficult for them.

Camilla Nikkanen, a wildlife carer with the Kokkola Region Animal Welfare Association, has noticed large numbers of grove snails in gardens. Hedgehogs eat the snails and can become infected with lungworms.

Lungworms weaken hedgehogs and can cause inflammation of the bronchial tubes. The animals may die from infections and parasites, Nikkanen said.

Pellinen also suspects that the cool weather in July has affected the hedgehogs. Particularly young animals weighing less than 100 grams need a great deal of warmth. If they become too cold or hypothermic, food will not move through their bodies.

Nikkanen has cared for more than 20 of the slightly over 30 underweight hedgehog babies taken in by the two carers at the Kokkola Region Animal Welfare Association this summer. The animals are first checked for illness or injury, weighed and warmed.

Even in warm weather, hedgehog babies are always chilled when they are found, Nikkanen said. They are placed on a heat mat with hot water bottles, and can only accept food once their body temperature has risen.

Very young babies are fed milk from a bottle. Older ones are given wet cat food from a dish, sometimes mixed with fluids and electrolytes. Their care also involves cleaning up after them and feeding them until their weight begins to rise. Some need medication for conditions such as lungworm infections, while others require veterinary treatment or flea removal.

Nikkanen plans to release the hedgehogs in her care back into the wild soon. If their former home has become dangerous, for example because of a construction site, a new release location is chosen as close as possible to the original one.

Hedgehogs gain weight in autumn to survive hibernation over the winter. They need to build up brown fat in their bodies, Nikkanen said.

Pellinen expects reports of undersized hedgehogs to continue through the autumn, even after the rescued babies have been released. She and Nikkanen encourage people to provide supplementary food and water if hedgehogs are seen in their gardens.