Welcome to North Devon Hedgehog Care and Rescue located in Braunton. My name is Anni and I run a small independent care unit from my home where I provide care for sick, injured and orphaned hedgehogs. I can always be contacted for help and advice and I will always return your calls if you have to leave a message.

I always try to keep in contact with the people who bring me hedgehogs so that I can let them know how their hog is getting along and I always ask if people would like the hedgehog back (if it is safe) so it can be re-released as near as possible to where it was found.

Hedgehogs are rapidly declining in numbers over recent years and much of our work is helping to raise awareness of their plight and helping North Devon’s community of hedgehogs survive.

For more information you can visit our website and please also take a look at www.hedgehogstreet.org and sign up for the 2013 hibernation study! Below is a short snippet from their website which is brought to you by The British Hedgehog Preservation Society and the People’s Trust for Endangered Species.

Research in the 1970s by Britain’s foremost expert on hedgehogs, Dr Pat Morris (formerly of Royal Holloway, University of London), revealed a direct link between hibernation and climate: hedgehogs came out of hibernation up to three weeks earlier in the South West of England compared to Scotland. Furthermore, in East Anglia, hedgehogs similarly spent longer hibernating than in the London area or South West. This marked difference in hedgehog hibernation patterns across the UK shows a general trend of prolonged inactivity in proportion to the coldness of the winter.

Dr Morris explains: “Age, sex and weather all appear to influence the timing of hedgehog hibernation. For example, young animals may remain fully active into December, no doubt seeking to develop sufficient fat reserves to ensure survival during subsequent hibernation. Also, adult females that have had late litters or may still be lactating will need to feed intensively before hibernating, causing them to be active for longer than adult males. However, mild weather can also delay hedgehogs entering into hibernation or elicit premature awakening, impacting on the creature’s fat reserves and breeding times and consequently affecting the long- term survival of the species.”

The 2012 Hedgehog Hibernation Survey proved to be fantastically popular, with around 2,000 people logging around 45,000 hedgehog sightings through the online form. This makes it one of the largest datasets about hedgehog activity ever collected.

For donations:
Cheques made payable to North Devon Hedgehog Rescue and sent to Fair View,

Higher Park Road, Braunton, Devon, EX33 2LF
BACS Payment: Sort Code 30-98-61 and Account No 24247368.

Website:      www.northdevonhedgehogrescue.org
Twitter:       @NDhedgehogs
Facebook:   www.facebook.com/NorthDevonHedgehogRescue