The Hogsprickle Wildlife VN 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 APVN (Wildlife)

It's been crazy busy with birds as fledglings leave the nest and cats do what cats do at this time of year 😢 We've been hand rearing a few garden birds including pigeons, blackbirds, blue tits and already 19 starlings!! Just in 3 weeks we've ordered €455 of frozen mealworms and insect food from Animal Foods. Plus €20 a week for a kilo of live mealworms. This time of year is expensive but we have to care for our wildlife and give them the very best. A huge thank you to our volunteer bird fosterer Rachel 🤗 for her help with caring for many of the starlings. 8 of them are now free to live their wild lives, with the next batch ready for release in a few days. If anyone would like to help towards our food bill we have a link in our bio for PayPal Revolut to our contact number Hedgehugs 🦔🐣🐦 #thehogsprickle #wildliferescue #wildliferehabilitation #wildlife #wildbirds

Meet the luckiest spiky butt in Ireland!!! He was found in Rosa Glas in Galway after the homeowners had decided to burn some garden 'rubbish'. Unfortunately 1. They didn't check for wildlife in the pile they were intending to set fire to and 2. The fire soon got so bad they had to call the Fire Bridge to help control it. Imagine the surprise that @arkvetsgalway Knocknacarra got when a fire tender and fire fighters turned up with a hedgehog!!! Firecracker, as he was named, was admitted into the care of Vet Nurse Natalie who checked the little guy over and nebulised him for smoke inhalation. Firecracker had a VERY lucky escape and was given the all clear on the same day Later Natalie and her son released Firecracker back to his wild life. A lesson to everyone thinking about burning garden waste, please start a small fire away from the big pile and feed the small one from the big one. That way you might just save a wild life. Hedgehogs are nesting at this time of year and may be in the pile with their hoglets. Maybe just leave the pile alone to provide a home for insects, frogs and perhaps a family of hedgehogs. #wildlifevetnurses #thehogsprickle #hedgehogs #wildliferehabilitation #wildlife

🦔 A Day of Advocacy & Action at The Hogsprickle! 🌿 What a momentous day for wildlife rehabilitation in East Clare! . We were absolutely delighted to host @christopher_o_sullivan_td Minister Christopher O’Sullivan and @cathalcrowetd Cathal Crowe TD at the rescue yesterday. A huge thank you to Cathal for organising this visit and for his unwavering support in highlighting the need for dedicated funding for our wildlife rescue and rehabilitators. . We were also joined by members of the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) and our very own Marcus, The Hogsprickle treasurer. It was a fantastic opportunity to have everyone together—from those on the ground and our core management team to those making the laws—discussing how we can better protect Ireland’s native species. . Our Key Discussions Included: 🐾 Closing the Funding Gap: While domestic animal shelters have long-established support, wildlife rescues rely almost entirely on public kindness. Along with Marcus, we discussed the financial realities of running a rescue and why we are pushing for annual, structured funding. 🐾 Practical Safety: We discussed the critical need for wildlife-safe cattle grids to prevent hedgehogs and other small mammals from being trapped. 🐾 The Power of Habitats: We showed our visitors the importance of maintaining ecological corridors that support everything from bats to hedgehogs. . The highlight was definitely introducing the Minister to Barnaby the hedgehog! Barnaby was a little star, showing everyone exactly what we are fighting for. He was actually released back into the wild later that evening—the best possible ending to his journey with us. . 📸 A massive thank you to our wonderful volunteer and avid supporter, the talented Corina K, for capturing this fantastic footage of the day! It is because of supporters like Corina that we can share these important moments with all of you. . Seeing the Minister take such a genuine interest in our residents gives us great hope for the future of wildlife conservation in Ireland. Let’s keep the momentum going! 🇮🇪✨ .@corinakofficial @theshire_countrymanor . #TheHogsprickle #IrelandWildlife #NPWS #Cat

They grow up so fast. These sibling blackbirds were admitted after their nest was destroyed by a cat and unfortunately one of the chicks didn't survive the cat. 4 were taken into care by a lovely man who wanted to help. Unfortunately he had been feeding them worms from his garden, and yes blackbirds eat worms but only certain types. Other worm species can be toxic to birds. These 2 were the survivors and spent a few weeks with us being cared for under license. When they started to feed themselves they went outside to one of our avieries and grew strong. We said live long and prosper to them and wish them well in their wild lives Hedgehugs 🦔 #wildlifevetnurses #thehogsprickle #wildlifeconservation #wildliferescue

A very happy 100th birthday to the legendary GOAT influencer that is Sir David Attenborough Those who know me know the effect he's had on me all my life. I am only one, in the millions of people and children around the world, who he introduced to the magic of our planet and the other species we share it with. If only our world leaders were more like him. I've never met him, but I live in hope. He has influenced me to study and work with animals, becoming a Veterinary Nurse and eventually my dream of working with wildlife full time as a volunteer at The Hogsprickle. Another bucket list tick was to visit the Galapagos islands, twice, to walk in his shoes. And another huge thanks to @metler for my tattoo of his signature, taken from a reply to a letter I sent Sir David. When you talk about influencers, he really is the GOAT Happy birthday Sir David #davidattinborough #influencer #planetearth

🔔 RARE FOOTAGE: Stop calling me a mouse! 🐭✋ I’m a Pygmy Shrew, and I have a much better job description. . . While you’re sleeping, I’m basically the tiny, furry John Wick of the garden. 🥷✨ No pest is safe! . . • “Meet the neighborhood’s tiniest overachiever. 🏆! These guys eat their own body weight in bugs every day. Consider my garden officially pest-free. 🐜🐛 . 1“% fur, 90% snout, 100% NOT a mouse. 👃 If you see this little speedster, don't’scream—cheer🌿 . #PygmyShrew #NotAMouse #GardenGuardian #IrelandWildlife”.

How can you help hedgehogs in the garden? Make your pond safe by adding in an escape ramp, if a hedgehog falls in they can climb back out. Tie up football nets when you're finished playing with them to prevent hedgehogs and other wildlife getting trapped. Leave stick and leaf piles in a quiet corner of the gardenm to give a home to lots of insects, frogs, lizards etc. Hedgehogs will often nest in them and have a fine meal of tastey grubs. Check long grass before using the lawnmower, strimmer or robo mower (make sure your robo mower is safe for wildlife) We get far too many calls about mower and strimmer injuries , especially important at this time of year when female hedgehogs are nesting and giving birth to their hoglets. Be a lazy gardener and nature will reward you with all sorts of life in the garden, neat mowen lawns are green deserts and usless for biodiversity. Hedgehugs

All this week will be posting tips about our favourite Spiky Butts. What can you do in your garden to attract them, how to help when you find one that might need help, how to make sure they can find their favourite food and what you can do to make sure a nesting hedgehog is safe when she has her hoglets. Why not DM us with your tips and we can share with our Hogsprickle community? These endearing little animals are declining in numbers and many people have told us that they haven't seen a hedgehog in years. so not just for this week but for every week lets be Hedgehog Aware! @hedgehogsireland #hedgehogs #thehogsprickle #wildliferehabilitation #irishwildlife

This beautiful girl came in for care yesterday, she was cold and weak and in need of immediate care. A big thank you to her rescuer Laura for looking out for the little cub. Laura was surprised and worried to see such a young cub out near a busy road on her own and even more worried when the cub ran up to her, wild animals usually run in the other direction from people! Laura phoned for advice and quickly met a volunteer who brought her here, we named her Beltane. Little Beltane was given fluids and settled down in one of our incubators for the night. Thankfully this morning she was a bit brighter and after more critical care solution and a pouch of cat food she was transferred to the team at @kildarewildliferescue The team of volunteers and vet staff will take great care of her and we're sure she will be a big favourite with the volunteers there Oh yeah and as you can see she has a bit of an attitude about being disturbed 😂😂 Hedgehugs 🦔🦊 #wildlifevetnurses #thehogsprickle #wildliferescue #foxes #wildliferehabilitation

Ouch, I had a bad day 🙈 A bit of an accident in the garden and I'm in a cast for 6 frustrating weeks. I'm really sorry but I can't take any casualties for a couple of weeks until I can regain the use of my hand. Hopefully it won't be long till I'm back to what I love. A huge thank you to Evan and Rachel for taking 3 hedgehogs to the amazing team at @kildarewildliferescue for their support and stepping up to help me out as I can't give the wild bunch the care they need just now. Please contact licenced wildlife rehabbers Kildare Wildlife Rescue [email protected] and the team at @wildliferescuecork For help and advice with wildlife casualties. As Arnie says, I'll be back 🦔 #wildliferehabilitation #teamwork #kindness #support

A few days ago we got a call about a hedgehog that had fallen down a drain at a school in Limerick. Teachers at the school tried to rescue the hedgehog but they were unsuccessful. One of our amazing volunteers went out to see what she could do. Hedgehogs are really good at falling down open drains, and unfortunately this was the second time a hedgehog had fallen down a drain at this school. As you can see the school has cable tied the cover down so it won't happen again. After a few days here R&R she was released back to a safe area nearby. Huge Hedghugs to Nancy for the rescue and release of this little spiky butt. Hedghugs 🦔 #thehogsprickle #wildliferescue #wildliferehabilitation #entrapment

You've heard of No Mow May, but please can you think about Slow Mow Summer By not mowing during the month of May you're garden will start to be supportive to sooooo many species. If you destroy it with the lawnmower on the 1st of June all that wonderful environment will be gone, the insects, food for the birds and an important habitat for fledglings and other young wildlife to be protected from predetors This little Goldfinch is taking full advantage of the natural grass seeds here at @the_hogsprickle #nature #slowmowsummer #naturalfood #wildlife #wildbirds