Meet Fungus the Roborovski Hamster

Hello and welcome back to Hill Top Tails.

Everything is quiet with the hedgehogs/hoglets today. It has been really hot, so the hedgehogs have been peaceful and sleeping all day, but the canaries have been singing non-stop in the outdoor aviary.

Meet Fungus, our Roborovski Hamster. She is approximately four months old and was adopted from a local pet store. She is really tiny and is a joy to wach on her wheel. She runs so fast that she is thrown out of the wheel and she does it again and again and again!!

Roborovski hamsters are the the smallest and fastest of all hamsters. They can live up to 2 - 3 and a half years.
They are curious hamsters. Although their suitability as pets are further diminished by their size and speed, Roborovskis are extremely affectionate towards each other. Their social nature means that when housed together at an early age, they sleep in one place and indeed eat, play etc. together.
Roborovskis grow to about 4 - 5cm long, have bullet shaped bodies and very long hind legs for fast running. An ordinary hamster cage is no good for a Roborovski, they need a cage with really narrow gaps between the bars, or they will escape.

Fungus is fascinating to watch and a really enjoyable.

The British Dragonfly Society are going to identify our Dragonfly (see yesterday's blog), so we will let you know all about it tomorrow. They have a great website, see www.dragonflysoc.org.uk for more useful information.

We'll be back again tomorrow.

Three Hoglets!

Welcome back. This morning there are three hoglets outside the nest. They're really gorgeous, small and plump, lots of spikes and their eyes closed. They're all tucked up in the nest with Mrs.Tiggywinkle tonight.

Today a large dragonfly came into the conservatory. We don't know much about dragonflies. Does anyone know what kind this is? We'd like to know.

The weather has again been really nice today, but the pollen count must be very high, as the boys are suffering from their hayfever badly tonight.

We received a lovely email from Jan Whittington, who has the baby bat which Ross rescued from school, she says, "My goodness how she has grown! She has got very used to me handling her and although she shouts at me when I first pick her up, she settles very quickly and eats like there is no tomorrow! She does get m/w juice all over the place, so when we have finished feeding (about 3 times a day) I wet a tissue and wash her face. She seems to enjoy this pampering and finishes up looking really good. I found she had difficulty cleaning round the places her tongue wouldn't reach!She stretches her wings every day so I shall have to start flying her soon so she gets the proper exercise. I have just (yesterday) picked up another baby just like she was and am feeding that one every 3 hours. It just has goats milk at the moment. It looks like a Whiskered too but it is difficult to be sure, it's so small. If it is, then I shall introduce them when they are both weaned properly and they can share their home and talk to each other!"

More tales tomorrow. Thank you for reading.

Millie's Hoglet Dies

Welcome back everyone. We apologise for not writing our blog for a few days, but Nanny Braund has been really poorly.

Firstly, some really sad news. On Sunday Millie was out and about, but there was no sign of her hoglet. We listened, but there was nothing. We decided that we ought to see if the hoglet was alive, or not, and so we asked Beth for some advice. Beth came over (see picture) and sadly we found Millie's hoglet in the bed, and it appears that she had been squashed/suffocated by Millie, which apparently is quite common. Everyone here at Hill Top was really sad, as we had so wanted Millie's hoglet to live, but it was not to be. At the weekend we will move Millie back in with the other hedgehogs again.

Today has been quite exciting with Rossi bringing home a baby bat from school. The baby bat had been found by one of the teachers in a room and was on its own and helpless. Ross kept the baby bat warm and we took it to Beth at the Harltand Wildlife Rescue. Beth had a nice warm box (see picture) and this evening she confirmed that he has been eating - we will keep you updated on his progress.

We'll be back again tomorrow with news about Bracken and Dreamer, our Barn Owls - thank you for reading.

Harold of Hill Top Holidays!

Hello everyone, and what fantastic weather we have had today.

Update on Millie - she is doing well, coming out for her food and we have heard noises, so we are pretty certain that everything is going well with the baby hoglet.

John at the CFZ was really miffed, as yesterday Greg had caught on camera a Devon Painted Lady butterfly - he's been trying to capture one on camera this last week and Greg (Jon's Godson) beat him to it!

Now, to introduce you to Harold. Harold was born on the 25th of July, 1962. Harold was a necessity and we purchased him on the 27th of June, 2007 and the following day he was christened Harold of Hill Top Holidays!
Yes, you've guessed, Harold is our 1962 Fordson Super Dexta Tractor. Harold has been great fun, we couldn't manage without him. We had him taxed and number plated up last year and he has been delivering logs in the winter, he tows the caravans in and out and Harold is used for cutting the fields. Harold is pictured here with Dave driving him and cutting the grass yesterday. As you can see, Dave is dressed for the occasion! Rossi was also cutting the grass yesterday - probably chasing Dave and Harold - Ross coming up the rear on Mervyn the ride-on-mower!

There really never is a dull day here at Hill Top.

Back with more updates tomorrow. Thank you for reading our Blog.