Not one hook... THREE hooks in cygnet


Too small to hibernate


Approximately 200 hedgehogs arrive at Stapeley Grange over the winter period, for many dif ferent reasons but most ly because they are too small to hibernate.


During winter hedgehogs need to have enough fat reserves in order to hibernate, which can be an issue for those born at the end of Summer. Many hogs are being brought in because they are being found out during the day which is a tell tell sign there is a problem. The majority of those being admit ted require veterinary treatment for parasites.


Hedgehogs can be ladened with dif ferent species of endoparasites (parasites inside the animal) which af fects both their intest ines and their lungs, causing diarrhoea and bronchopneumonia (inf lammat ion of the lungs) respect ively. The veterinary team now analyse faecal samples of most of the hedgehogs arriving at the centre now, with the aim of choosing the appropriate de-worming treatment against each parasite.


Once they have been treated, put on suf f icient weight (800g+) and when the temperatures are suitable, we can then return them back to the wild.


Laia Sanches Veterinary Of f icer


A juvenile swan was brought to Stapeley, suspected to have swallowed a hook and was reportedly showing signs of lead toxicity and was struggling to walk and even stand.


and to our surprise we found not one, but three hooks! One was caught in its lef t leg, another one was in its neck, and the third one had been swallowed and could be seen sit t ing in its oesophagus. The f irst two hooks were easily removed; only leaving some superf icial wounds on the skin which was great ; however the third hook was the one we were most concerned about .


Our f irst step was to take some x-rays


tongue and glot t is. We pulled very slowly hoping it may st ill be at tached to the hook, but sadly it wasn?t . It was therefore necessary to perform surgery to remove the hook. The hook had actually perforated the oesophagus, so the area had to be thoroughly cleaned and all the necrot ic t issue removed to avoid an infect ion before we could repair the damage caused by the hook.


ant ibiot ics, pain relief and a chelat ing agent for the lead. As a result of the injury, it was important that it be tube-fed with a liquid diet for the f irst couple of days to allow the oesophagus to heal. Solid food was then introduced slowly to make sure that there were no complicat ions.. The swan was later released home.


The swan was treated with Lourdes Cortes - Veterinary Of f icer 11 The swan also had f ishing line around its


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