JOY

A tiny baby hedgehog who survived aginst all the odds

Joy was found in early July 2004 and is the youngest baby that we have managed to rear. She was less than 1 day old when she was found and had been taken from the nest by some predator and dropped in a garden.

She had lots of bite wounds all over her especially on the head and face. If you look in the picture on the left you will see a scar on the nose that is from one of the many bite wounds.
Her baby brother who was found with her was too badly injured and only lived a few hours and died as soon as the vet started to examine him.

The shock from being taken from her mother and brothers and sisters together with the pain she must have been feeling from her very extensive injuries and the stress from me giving her antibiotics twice a day and feeding her hourly must have been too much for her and she had a heart attack when she was about 3 days old.

She had to all intents and purposes "died" but I gave her heart massage and blew gently into her mouth and after a couple of minutes she gave a big gasp and started to breathe and came round.

As you can see in the pictures she was very tame and affectionate with us and has remained so.

She must have suffered some small degree of brain damage, either from the injuries to the head or from not breathing for a couple of minutes. She gets up when she feels like it in broad daylight and starts wandering around her garden.

She will never be able to be released and stays with us in the hedgehog garden where she is safe from any predators but can live a fairly normal life.

She has remained tame and comes running up to see me as soon as I take her food out to her every evening and wants her cuddle and sit on my lap for a few minutes then off she happily trots. Even though she is very happy to see us, she wants to be independant and likes to live in the closed garden where she is safe and lives in one of the hedgehog houses that I have made

I have known other hedgehogs to come to you to get food, but never known one that wants a cuddle and fuss made of it before it will eat.

Update January 2008:

Starting in the Autumn of 2007 Joy started to go downhill and wouldn't eat well so was taken indoors and kept with us. She eventually got worse and on 11th January 2008 she died.

She was 3½ years old and we had hoped she would live longer and was a real part of the family. We really loved her a lot and will miss her.

We buried her in her garden where she had a happy 3 years and we know she is watching over all the other hedgehogs that will be living in there

Click on the small image to be taken to a full size one ( opens in new window0

Joy tasting my hand	Joy tasting my hand	Joy tasting my hand
Her first walk in the garden to see what it's all about	Her first walk in the garden to see what it's all about	Her first walk in the garden to see what it's all about
Her first walk in the garden to see what it's all about	Licking and sampling my shoe	A happy little ball of fluff
A happy little ball of fluff	Her first walk in the garden to see what it's all about	Hedgehogs often try to annoint themselves and contort into strange positions to lick themselves all over
Hedgehogs often try to annoint themselves and contort into strange positions to lick themselves all over	Hedgehogs often try to annoint themselves and contort into strange positions to lick themselves all over	Hedgehogs often try to annoint themselves and contort into strange positions to lick themselves all over
These were all taken in Spring 2005 and show Joy coming out in mid afternoon when she feels like it. She has a patch of blue nail varnish on her spines to distinguish her from other hedgehogs in the garden as Joy can't be released.
Joy in Spring 2005 Sniffing to see if her food has arrived yet	Joy in Spring 2005	Joy in Spring 2005 digging in the clover
Joy in Spring 2005 Coming out from the table upset because we hadn't put her fresh food down yet	Joy in Spring 2005	Joy in Spring 2005 Having a drink of water
Joy in July 2005. She still wants a bit of fuss and to smell & lick my arm	Joy in July 2005. She still wants a bit of fuss and to smell & lick my arm	Joy in July 2005. She still wants a bit of fuss and to smell & lick my arm

Here are some recent photographs of Joy