December
/ 2017 - Michael Ryan
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Winter break – A
Chiffchaff was a surprising and very welcome visiting bird to our garden
in late October. Once only a summer migrant, it’s been known now
for many years that some individual chiffchaffs will overwinter here
and in the UK. One individual used to spend the winter months behind
SuperValu in Deansgrange in the bushes along the banks of the stream
that runs beside the linear parkland. Unless the water froze, beside
the stream was always a good spot for insects and if the weather got
really cold they could always take to the air and fly south which a
lot of us do in winter as well. Helping Hedgehogs – An organisation that deserves mention for the great work it does is Hedgehog Rescue Dublin run by Yvonne McCann. I spoke to Yvonne, who gave up her job as a keeper at Dublin Zoo to look after injured and orphaned hedgehogs full time and she said at that moment she was looking after 40 hedgehogs and was expecting another four to be brought in that day. Many are young hedgehogs which are still active and wouldn’t have gained enough body fat reserves to survive hibernation so Yvonne’s organisation takes them in and feeds them over winter before releasing them in the spring. She says autumn juvenile hedgehogs are still out and about, often found out in the daytime, and as it’s now getting cold these young hedgehogs will not reach hibernation weight and will slowly starve to death. She states they need to be rescued so if you find one please put it in a high sided box with a hot water bottle, some cat food and some water and then get in touch with her organisation. Contact Yvonne, Hedgehog Rescue, Dublin Quay Road, Rush, Co. Dublin K56 TW62. |
Philomena, named after the lady who found her and brought her to Hedgehog Rescue Dublin. She had been hit by a car and smashed her back leg which they had repaired and she will be returning to the wild in spring. Photo. Hedgehog Rescue Dublin |
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Many
of the hedgehogs she takes in over the year are orphaned babies and
underweight juveniles but she also takes in many injured adults. Many
hibernating hedgehogs suffer horrific injuries from garden strimmers
but Yvonne asked me to emphasise that one of the main causes of fatalities
in hedgehogs is poisoning by slug pellets which contain methaldehyde
and she says if even one person who reads this stops using them it will
be worthwhile. On Hedgehog Rescue Dublin’s Facebook page there are wonderful photos and videos of some of her little guests which at the moment are housed in her garden shed. They released 57 hedgehogs into the wild last spring after caring for them over the winter but space is a big problem and she needs to build a new unit to house them. She plans on incorporating an incubation area and hygiene problems can be addressed much better in a purpose built unit. Her brother, who is a builder, is going to build the unit and the sum she’s looking for is quite modest. All her funding is from donations and she has started a fund-raising page to fund building the new unit. There’s an Adopt a Hedgehog scheme as well for which you get a sponsorship pack and you can name your hedgehog. |
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A
1996 study in the journal Animal Behavior observed some squirrels biting
through the embryo of white oak acorns, essentially paralyzing the seed’s
ability to sprout. The squirrels then buried the modified white oak
acorns as they would have with the reds. What’s more, the |
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