Hedgehog - injured?

daenerysstormborn3

Late last night we heard our jack russell making crazy noises in the trees beside our house, these noises usually result from him trying to get a cat out of tree or something like that. He's a typical jack russell, once he gets into something he won't give up. We've only had him just under a year so we've gradually been training him up. Luckily his recall is a lot better now and we were able to call him out of the trees and into the house for the night. We couldn't see what he was fighting with and we thought nothing more of it.

However, this morning I heard him making the same noises in the trees so I went out to investigate. Spotted what I thought was a beehive or a small log and the dog wrestling with it, figured he'd get bored and give up. After a while I called the dog out of the trees and put him in the house so that I could investigate. Managed to figure out that it is a hedgehog.

He was completely still up to about 2 hours ago and I've been going out to take a look at him every now and then. He has moved slightly and I can see him breathing but there are flies landing on him which makes me think he's injured or possibly dying. He is lying near what looks like could be his nest (I have looked up pictures on the net). He's not making any noise and he does look like an adult hedgehog.

I went out a few minutes ago and he was moving the top half of his body (he could well have been moving his bottom half too but I couldn't see it). I brought out a shallow lunch box with water in it, a small bit of chicken and a some crunched up weetabix (I read online that these are suitable foods, if not, can someone please advise) and put it as close to him as I could (I'm on crutches and the trees are very thick).

Just looking for some advice on what to do with him. Should I move him, provide a bed for him, should I continue to feed him, should I just leave him alone?

We don't have a car so we can't transport him to a vet and we don't have the money to call a vet out to our house.

daenerysstormborn3

I rang Waterford Animal Welfare about 2 hours ago, the phone rang out and I had to leave a voicemail and I also texted the number explaining the situation. No call back yet.

The hedgehog has now moved a good bit and seems to be nesting, in that he has snuggled himself into a dip in the ground.

Is it safe to move him? I'm afraid if I leave him there the dog will just go at him again, either now while he still appears to be weak, or in the next few days when he may have regained his strength and turn this into an ongoing problem. If I moved him to some land we have across the road from our house (not near a road way) would be stay there or would he try to find his way back? We can't see any babies but that's not to say they aren't somewhere else under the trees.

christmas2012

not trying to alarm you but some hedgehogs have fleas so it might not be a good idea to leave your dog near him/her..they sometimes ball up or put their back up when confronted by a dog or a human,the foods i have given them in the past have been catfood and chopped up bananas but what youre giving them is also okay,they like fruit a lot like apples,and they would eat a rotten apple even..as they would in the wild

daenerysstormborn3

I read online that hedgehog fleas are not contagious to dogs. We're keeping the dogs inside anyway as I don't want them to go over tormenting him if he is injured/sick. I'll give him out some banana now. Thanks for that

daenerysstormborn3

Relief! Just went out and he's gone. Had a look around that section of trees and can't see him anywhere. Probably got sick of me poking my head in every half hour and decided to head off somewhere else:P Maybe he was just in shock after his encounter with the dog. Anyway, thanks for your help.

pawrick

My gf has a family of hedgehogs in her garden and we came across an animal rescue in Kildare when looking to find more info about them. Their site links to this one:

http://www.irishwildlifematters.ie/animals/hedgehog.html

It's full of info in case you run in to your friend and need more advice

callmekenneth

my large dog tackled a hedghog a couple of months ago. the dog got a bloodied mouth, i couldnt tell if the hedghog was hurt but he was gone the next morning. hardy little bolloxes