A new member of the ingenie family

4^th January 2019

If you can cast your minds ALL the way back to December last year, you should remember us mentioning that we were going to be adopting a new, fury (apparently not) friend.

The number of animals and birds injured or killed on UK roads is shockingly high - with nearly 4,000 being killed by vehicles in the last two years. And since ingenie are all about creating safe driving environments, we thought we'd spread some awareness, not just for #WorldWildlifeConservationDay but for the rest of this year and onward.

With nearly 4,000 animals killed on the road and many more injured by vehicles in the last 2 years, we’ve decided to do our bit and adopt an animal for #WorldWildlifeConservationDay. The decision is yours - which animal should join the #ingeniefamily?

— ingenie (@ingenie) December 4, 2018

With nearly half the vote, the ingenie family voted to adopt the smallest (and arguably the cutest) of the woodland mammals - a hedgehog. We listened and got in touch with The Wildlife Aid Foundation (WAF), one of the largest wildlife hospitals in the UK - and just round the corner from ingenie HQ!

The WAF have been rescuing and rehabilitating sick, injured and orphaned wildlife for 25 years and deal with an eye-watering 20,000 incidents each year. With no government funding it's vital that we ALL do our bit to help where we can.

Introducing Herbert

We gave you guys the chance to pick a name for our new bristly buddy, and our suggestions of Rocky, Spike and Snuffle apparently just didn't cut it. But one name was eventually agreed by the majority.

By adopting Herbert for the year, ingenie are helping towards the cost of all the Hedgehogs at The Wildlife Aid Foundation - including any treatment they may need, medication, food and bedding.

It costs the Wildlife Foundation £150 to raise just one baby hedgehog to adulthood, so if you'd like to do your bit, either by donating, adopting or even volunteering your time - your help will be greatly appreciated by the WAF.

Here's how you can get invovled.

Finding an injured animal

Whether you're driving or on foot, it's really easy to let your emotions get the better of you and leap into hero mode when you see an injured animal, but it's so important to remember that your safety comes first.

An injured animal is likely to be incredibly stressed and frightened, so do not put yourself in danger if you're unsure how the animal may react.

Here's the Wildlife Aid's advice for if you find an animal or bird that's been injured on the road:

• If it's a large animal, pull over in a safe spot and if possible, try to shield the animal with your car. (If the accident has happened on a busy or fast road, pull over safely, turn your engine off and call your local animal rescue straight away.)
• Don't try to cover the animal, just stand well back and monitor from a distance.
• Never attempt to handle an injured deer, badger or fox. They are likely to panic and inflict injury.
• Never carry a wild animal loose in your car. If absolutely necessary, place them gently in a box or in the boot - but always seek help before considering this. Rescue centres will have equipment to deal with all kinds of accidents so it's probably in the animals best interest to wait for help from them.
• It's a good idea to carry a wildlife first aid kit in your car - a box, some heavy duty gloves, a towel and a torch.
• Never handle young mammals with your bare hands and do not fuss them more than necessary.
• Don't always rush to pick up a baby animal or bird with no obvious injuries. Watch first to see if its parents return.

Always call your local animal rescue or wildlife foundation for advice before you approach an animal.

Did you know...?

Since you guys have a particular soft spot for them - here's some hedehog fun facts.

1. Female hedgehogs are called sows, the males are called boars and wait for it...the babies are called...hoglets. We just cried a little.🦔
2. They're not sociable animals and live on their own until it's time to breed.
3. Hedgehogs are omnivores - so they eat both meat and vegetables - with 80% of their diet being earth worms. Niiiiceeee.
4. Hedgehogs are lactose intolarant - so no leaving milk by the back door!
5. They got their name because of their foraging habits. They make piggy, grunting noises when they're looking in hedges for insects and worms, hence Hedge Hog. Get it?
6. Hedgehogs look SUPER cute when they yawn.

 

via GIPHY