Hedgehogs

[Kerry L]

Hi all

Today I saw a little hedgehog that had been run over last night. Please be on the lookout for any that haven't hibernated or are undersized. If you find them don't let them sleep, but keep them warm and take them to your local wildlife rescue centre. Use leaves if possible, but not straw or hay. Little pillows that can be heated in the microwave are useful, or a warm (not too hot) hot water bottle wrapped in cloth.
Don't worry if you spot fleas, they don't like our blood, but gardening gloves are good protection from prickles.
A couple of years ago we had a little hedgehog curled up by our front door - in December. It was covered in ticks and very light and we are lucky to have a lady not too far away who looks after all sorts of wildlife in Overton, sadly we were too late and only lasted 2 days, but it had a happier ending than some.

Useful web site:
www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk (http://www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk)

Regards, Kerry

[Emma]

Hi Kerry

What's wrong with hay and straw? Our hedgehog box is full of the stuff, and was recommended to me by a man who rescues hedgehogs.

You have me worried now :/

Our hedgehog isn't hibernating yet, but he's busy taking in the dried leaves I place near the box, as well as the straw. I put it all near the box at dusk and most of it has been taken inside the next day. I also put a little ball of straw in the entrance so I can check for activity in the box just in case he doesn't take my offerings.

Also, I was thinking that as soon as the ball of straw stays put then he's probably bedded down for the winter.

He also has sawdust on the floor and shredded paper.

[Kerry L]

Hi Emma

When I took our poor little thing in to the rescue centre, I was told not to put them in straw because it is not natural bedding for them as they gather leaves. It is to do with the straw tangling up around the spines and it is difficult for them to remove - at that time we had a rabbit and I had put the hedgehog in a bucket full of warm straw - oh dear, slight ticking off for me! Now we have a garden full of leaves and no more rabbit, so no straw as a stand-by - ooh and thunder and lightning outside now - yuk!:eek:
I'm glad your man said it was OK, I don't feel guilty now. I think we should assume that as long as it is warm and dry, use whatever is to hand, and if it is the wrong stuff, the animal is not going straight back into the wild, but will be given some TLC first (if it survives that is).
However, I think any hedgehog will end up with hay around their spines just by foraging around the weedy bits in my garden!:o

On a sad note, I saw another squashed hedgie this week, so they are still around. Does anyone remember Shaw Taylor? I'll use his quote - "Keep 'em peeled"! (OK, I'm 48 - and there wasn't much children's tv in the old days!;) )

Regards, Kerry

[Emma]

Maybe I'll keep an eye out in the evenings for him/her just to see what sort of state they're in!

I had a look at your link and they say, "Thus, in autumn, they begin to collect leaves, grass, straw, bracken, reeds etc. and use these materials for building their own nests under hedgerows, fallen logs or piles of brushwood."

To be honest, apart from it being 'dry grass' I'm not even sure what straw is :o :D

I think I'll keep some lawn cuttings next year and use that to line the box. He has pleanty of dried leaves in with him, as well as the straw, and next year I'll start earlier and give him/her/them/it access to a wider variety of materials. And possibly no straw :confused:

[Jenny]

Please use leaves if you can - some straw has been treated and I'm informed not too good as chemicals may be harmful. If you find small hedgehogs, they must weigh 800 plus grams to stand a chance of surviving. Put your local hedgehog rescue contact phone number by your phone and ring them with any serious underweights - in meantime, provide warmth - indoors in a quiet secure setting, food and water (not bread and milk) but don't let them pig out - that'll kill them too. Little and often! If you've one approaching the minimum, it's still worth hanging onto them and feeding them up for a couple of weeks till they hit weight and then finding somewhere where they can hibernate but keep putting out food on mild days - hogs don't sleep all winter.

[Emma]

Right! That's it! No straw next time! I'm not disturbing him now as he's built quite a nest for himself - I'll have to take the risk :(

[shirehorse]

Hello everyone. I am new to this forum but hope I can make many friends that are interested in Wildlife like myself.

I have a little hedgehog that visits each year, always comes in under my back gate and has a snuffle around the garden, I know it's there because he leaves his 'calling card' but they are great fun and lovely to watch.

[sallyh]

I'm new on here too :) . I'm part of a Hedgehog rescue group & have had a little hedgehog to over winter before releasing back into the wild. I've always been advised to use shredded paper topped off with hay if that helps. He has successfully come through the winter & I'm now feeding him up so that he can be released. He is so cute, I shall miss him when he goes off into the wild, I hope he returns at some point to say hi.

Sally
xx

[Jenny]

Welcome Sally and well done! My friend does a local hedgehog rescue and she had three underweights all thriving. One of them was one I found and got to her so I'm so pleased. You people do a great job!

[PiratesAhoy!]

I volunteer with a local wildlife rescue centre, and we had plenty of hogs in over the winter who had been found outside in the daytime. We kept them in and fed them up, and a couple of weeks ago they were released.

Two of them ended up released at our place, and I've been keeping an eye on them (I call it 'Hogwatch' :) ) every night, making sure they have food, etc. One of them had mange, and lost some spines, so I'm making sure he's ok. The two we released have been joined by a third one, so there's lots of snuffling around at night in our garden ;)

They have a few log piles, but also there's a converted cat carrier out there with shredded newspaper - one of them seems to prefer that to sleep in.

[Kerry L]

Hi, I enjoyed the rescue stories, and nice to hear happy endings for some. I would love to do something like that (I would love to look after owls), although He-man probably wouldn't like the extra visitors. My daughter is also keen on helping wildlife too.
Last night He-man was snoring so badly that I gave up and went to sleep downstairs on the settee:mad: . Not being able to settle myself too well, at half past 2, I wandered into the kitchen for some water and spotted a large hoggie wandering around the bottom of the garden - well lit up by the streetlamp. Today I found that he/it has left quite a few calling cards last night, so it appears that my locals are up and about now. There are plenty of slugs in the garden eat, so I was pleased to see it - even though my eyes were out on stalks at the time;) !
Regards, Kerry

[Jenny]

Glad your hogs are back, Kelly! It's been too cold at night for last ten days for them to be out but tonight it's milder and my dog's been going ballistic the last half hour and I've been watching a face off between two of three hogs! Suspect it's two males strutting their stuff in front of the female who's sensibly stocking up on the food! It's good to know they're still about.

Our soil's pretty lousy, so grow a lot of stuff in tubs; I've found temporarily re-locating them is a great source of food for hogs (and birds) with all the beetles and slugs and worms that are just under them. Moving the tubs every couple of days or so is proving a cheap (but strenuous!) way of supplementing diets!

PS . Lone hog out on patio tonight. Went straight up to her (?) - no curling up as I put extra food out (late back from work) right under her nose. Even with dog going daft! S/he (a condescention to you He-Man in case he reads these posts) is looking really fit so am hopeful for more this year.

[sallyh]

As it has now been raining I released my recovered hedgehog last night. He has been with me now for several months & it is always a time with a mixture of emotions for me, glad he is now well enough to be free but sad that I probably won't see him daily any more. He is such a sweetheart & I hope & pray he has a happy life back in the wild.

Sally
xx

[Maisie]

Sally, I'm sure he'll be fine! We released 2 a few months ago. One had recovered from mange and has a number of spines missing, so is easy to identify. He's been spotted with at least 2 prickly friends all over the garden since, so they've obviously all made themselves at home! I know of hedgies that have been marked with Tipp-ex in the past as part of a release study. Maybe you could try that with future rescues so you can identify them again if they're being released somewhere you'll be able to see them again.

[sallyh]

Thanks Maisie. He didn't return to his box after last night so hopefully he is off happily exploring his new found freedom.

Sally
xx

[dougied]

We have recently been visited by two hedgehogs, we originally thought cats may have been coming into the garden and leaving their "calling card", but the other night we heard a snuffling sound and on investigation saw two little hedgehogs sitting on our ground feeder tucking into the robins mix food that we put out. They've been in every night now for a week and I think they may be nesting in our barbeque which we leave out all year with a cover over it. Whenever we have ventured into the garden for a closer look they scamper back to the barbeque,, so it looks, unless they move out, we may have to find alternative cooking arrangements for this summer!!

[dougied]

Had a bit of a drama last night. My wife and I went into the garden, partly to see the hedgehogs, but also on slug watch! We are getting loads at the moment and so we go and pick them off our tender plants and dispose of them. Anyway, while we were out we heard a commotion and found one of the hedgehogs with his head stuck in a jug! Don't ask me how he got it on his head, but I gave it a gentle tug and it came off, no harm done, but he did look funny there for a while. The things you have to do to help wildlife sometimes. :D

[Jenny]

Dougied, interested to hear about your barbeque dilemma - I had a similar issue two years ago but this was a hibernation nest. Owing to it being so windy, my barbeque is located in an inset in the walls under the eaves during the winter and covered, the cover being both pegged down and having large stones on top. The hog had lifted one of the pegs and dragged in dead grass and dry leaves and had made a snug little home that we found in the spring.

[Loopy]

We have hog visitors. I was a bit late putting the food out the other night and we came face to face as he was heading to his/her dish. Hog ran off :) I feed them dried mealworms and sultanas. What do other people feed their hedgehogs?

[Kerry L]

Our always polished off the remaining bird food - until the rats came, so I stopped leaving out so much. At the moment they are munching the slugs (although I think they have missed too many for my liking!) and any leftover raisins. I found some dried blueberries that had gone past their sell by date, and thought the birds would like them. Not one bird ate the berries, but the hedgehog hoovered them up!
Kerry

[Jack]

....What do other people feed their hedgehogs?

Loopy,

I feed the Hedgehog food (http://www.birdfood.co.uk/product_details.php?area_id=2&group_id=19&nav_id=28&prd_id=134) available from CJ. I've never had any complaints(!) and it usually takes about three days (nights) for then to go through a bowl full - also from CJ (http://www.birdfood.co.uk/product_details.php?area_id=2&group_id=19&nav_id=28&prd_id=131). You should always put out water as well.

Jack

[PiratesAhoy!]

Our hogs love the garden at the moment. They eat the dropped seed, plenty of slugs, and also things like the suet cake that I leave out for the pirates (starlings).

I also supplement them occasionally with chicken flavoured cat food, although in recent nights I suspect a non-spiky 'hedgehog' has been eating the cat food - I think it was black and white.

I go out onto the patio just about every night at 10pm to have a look, and there's always at least one hog looking guilty in the torchlight. Generally they'll have stopped what they're doing, for example eating suet or a slug :)

Jack makes a good point too - I always have plenty of water out - for the birds, and for the hogs, but make sure if they fall in, they have a means of getting out again - put a couple of bricks in your pond for example if it's deep enough for them to drown. They can swim, but not for too long.

As I type this, my fingers are being pecked by a magpie, so I must go! :D

[Loopy]

Thanks everyone :) We have a cat problem in our garden - about 4 different ones. I don't own a cat and don't particularly like them much. I always greet them with a cup of water but they don't get the hint! I try and put food out that hogs will like and cats won't. Not sure about the sultanas but surely dried mealworms have got to be a no-no.

Always put out plenty of water, Jack. There's 4 bird baths (two on 2 feet tall tables and two on the ground) and a bowl of water next to the hog food. The pond is a bit of a worry but there is one shallow side. We need to clear it out in the autumn and put some proper slopey sides in it.

And Mr Pirates, I never want to catch a hog in the middle of eating a slug! They are slimey and horrible. I trod one in on the bottom of my shoe the other day and my boyfriend had to remove it whilst I was shouting "I'm gonna heave!" I'm fine with worms and any insect (even got over my fear of beetles) but not the slugs.

[Lois]

Always put out CJs in lovely hedghog dish but not sure if hogs eat it as quite oten early morning on the following day it is being emptied by starlings or blackbirds or magpies so can't really tell how much our hog got.

[Jenny]

Same problem here, Lois, especially approaching midsummer - we're into that time here when (except when it's pouring down) it doesn't get dark. I have to time putting out food carefully - it mustn't go out before 10.15pm at the moment as one or two birds, especially robin and blackbirds, have caught on!

I got caught out this evening though - dog was alerting me and went out to find two hogs looking for food - the larger one didn't bother rolling up but headed straight for me and dog as I put food down. Dog is not happy (think he got his nose pricked!)!

Has anyone tried out CJ's new hog food? I've just bought some and will try it out tomorrow night as have just about finished the previous (old style) lot.

[Lois]

Hi Jenny. I am trying the new food as old food ran out. I think the birds like it a lot as it seems to have lots of sunflower seeds in. Not got the large bits of creepy crawly in as old food and not as moist. I have not seen a hog eat it yet but dish is always empty in the morning at 6 when I look. I can usually tell if we had a visit because we normally get a calling card!

[Jenny]

Thanks, Lois.

Will let you know how I get on. Hog has changed his/her route so will try some of the new stuff by the back step and the remnants of the old stuff in the usual spot.

Jenny

[sallyh]

Got 2 hedgehogs coming in a few days for feeding them up to the desired release weight of 800gms. They are both approx 400gms at present so I should have them for a while. I'm getting very excited as I love having 2 at a time as they are company for each other.

I usually feed them Spike food, mainly the dried format but I will get in a few trays of their meat to get them growing well. I've also used the feed that CJ supply & it has always gone done well.

[sallyh]

The hedgehogs have arrived :D two ever so sweet little girls. They are gorgeous :D

[Saz]

Glad the little girls arrived safe and sound Sal :) :) :)

[sallyh]

Thanks Sazzie, they both seem to be eating well & seem settled :)

[PiratesAhoy!]

Just a reminder folks - if you could keep your eyes peeled for snuffling shuffling hogs during the dusk hours and into dark. At this time of year, if they're looking a little small or thin, it could be the end of them - they should be hibernating soon, and if they're not already about 300-500 grams, they won't last the winter.

I found one in our garden last night - very thin, and out in the daylight, heading for the hog kibble I put out. So I grabbed him and weighed him. 257 grams, which just isn't enough.

I've put him in a box (hamster cage actually) and given him cat food and water, plus some mealworms and hog food, but he has another problem - his poo is lime green in colour, and I suspect he has an infection or parasite of some sort, so it's off to the wildlife centre with him at some point today.


So keep an eye on your gardens at dusk folks - and if you have any doubts, call your local wildlife centre, and they'll overwinter the hog for you if need be, which will be better for the critter than starving and freezing to death.

Look here: http://www.uksafari.com/wildlifehospitals.htm for a list of wildlife hospitals and sanctuaries.

[Morgannon]

We had a late Hedgehog last Winter. Due to the mild weather last year our local Hedgehogs had two litters of babies instead of one so the surviving baby was too small to hibernate when Winter came.
It was way too fast to catch and we have plenty of warm places to rest so we kept putting food out(pet food is hopeless, the cats or Foxes just eat that so we put peanuts out instead which it seemed to really like) and come spring it had survived and is now as fat, spiny and flea infested as the rest of the lil Hogs(you can see their spines bristling with fleas, but I don't care, they're so cute).

Edit: We named him Titch cause he's a runt, though this Winter he's finally hibernating and is far from being a Titch now.

[Kerry L]

Hi all
Just before Christmas we found a small hedgehog running across the road (good job it was me, I braked in time) on the way home from school. As a result Madam Mim jumped out and grabbed it before another car came and squashed them both! We brought it home, and weighed it - almost 1lb - not enough for winter. Phoned the HART wildlife rescue centre in Overton. They suggested filling an old plastic drinks bottle (squash or water) with hot water from the tap and covering it with an old towel for instant comfort and take it to them. So off we went with "Smiley" and deposited him in the place that hopefully would help him survive. Sadly after 4 days he died - too many internal parasites even though he had been on a de-worming regime. I have decided that Mim is not allowed to name any more hogs - it is unlucky! Still, as a result, she will be volunteering for help when she reaches 16 - they would love to have her help now, but insurance . . .
Anyone interested in that rescue centre can find details on:
www.hartwildlife.org.uk (http://www.hartwildlife.org.uk)
Regards, Kerry
PS, I think their diary needs updating, hence need more volunteers.

[PiratesAhoy!]

Sorry to hear that the hedgehog died, Kerry. To be honest though, if it was taking a stroll in daylight hours during the winter, then it was in serious trouble anyway. The odds were against its survival.

Nice to hear that your daughter is interested in volunteering! If only there were more people like you and your daughter, Britain's wildlife would be in very good hands indeed :)

[Kerry L]

Ahoy there
Yes, it has to be a very desperate hoggie when it is seen in daylight - Smiley probably ate non-stop, but because of the parasites, the food wasn't being absorbed, poor mite. At least we tried. I have been on the HART website, and now feel guilty, I am thinking of volunteering before Mim does! At the moment it is in the founders back garden - on the plus side, I know where to find it!
Kerry

[Kerry L]

Seems like our hedgehogs are awake and pottering around at night now - pity as it looks like snowy cold weather on the way. Perhaps it was venturing out for a midnight snack - plenty of slugs and snails about here. Already had sleet today and son is camping near a beach in Sussex somewhere!:eek: I wonder if he'll feel like some ice cream when he comes home?
TTFN, Kerry

[Jenny]

Our hogs have returned to hibernation and can't blame them - it's been perishing the last two days. Our local weather guy was quoting minus 5 C in the sunshine today - it was just the wind. However, 10 miles on the way home, it was a whiteout of a blizzard right down to sea level!! Even the hound looked at me in disgust when I donned the waterproofs to walk him - he shot out, did essentials and came back in! If it freezes tonight will have a fun time getting out to the eagle hide tomorrow morning! And all the food I put out for the birds this morning is covered in snow!

And the poor lambs! Even the hill sheep have been coming down for shelter and they're as tough as old boots.

[PiratesAhoy!]

Picked up another hog in the garden yesterday. It's not skinny (300 grams) or dehydrated, but it was wandering our lawn in the daytime, so we've given it B&B lodgings for a while. No ticks or fleas either, so perhaps it's just come out of hibernation in the relative wamth of the last few days and is a bit confused about the time of day, or peckish!

[gillwrig]

Hi All

Hope you don't mind me adding my post to this thread.

I've got 4 or 5 spikey's ranging from massive to smallish that are still visiting everynight at the moment . Last night in Warrington I reckon it was about -1 or so but they just came a bit earlier along with a small raiding party of mice!

I'm feeding them with Rowenas Hedghog mix ( they love this ) and Haithes ( which they're not fussed with ) topped with Hedghog Cruncnhies and mealworms.

We've got one of those infrared cameras set up by their feeding site so I can watch them all night if there's nowt on the tele!

The smallish one seems to follow the bigger ones round so I'm thinking maybe he's late baby. I'm going to try and grab him and weigh him soon to check he's big enough - he looks well but just a bit small.

Will miss them when they hibernate though

Thanks

Gill

[Pine Marten]

Not seen my 5 hedgehogs for 3 weeks now. They were real regulars. One was a tiny baby when it first came. I did weigh it just before it stopped coming and was 504 gr. Thats about borderline for hibernation.

Gillwrig, how far is your camera away from the hedgehog feeder. Am thinking of doing a setup for next year. A 4 camera system. For birds and hedgehogs.

Pine Marten.

[gillwrig]

My cameras about 2m away at the moment but that's becasue I'm trying to see whether they are going into the food shelter I built them.

It's usually about 1m away and they just completely ignor it.

It's not a special one I just got it from Maplin Electrics shop where it was in the security section - it was about 40.00 quid. It's supposed to be wireless but you sill have to plug it in to the mains and then plug the receiver into the mains as well ....so not wireless at all them.:D

Gill

[Pine Marten]

Many thanks Gill for the quick response.
I have a handycam and boom, which i plug in to video recorder and tv. Although quite good, would like a nice setup. Because of the way the hedgehogs use the garden, in the summer had 6 feeding stations for them. They all had their favourite.

I found a site that does a quite good setup, ok for security but at the moment a reasonable price. Hd recorder with cd buillt in. 4 cameras and all the leads and plugs. Plus software for live streaming over the internet. Mind you is half a ton in money.

Pine Marten.

[gillwrig]

Yes I know what you mean - I'm always fascinated as to where they go when they go off into the garden.

I'm not a great fan of wires though so I'd prefer a battery powered one.

Let me know how you get on?

Regards
Gill

[Pine Marten]

Hi Gill, i done several hours of recording the hedgehogs. A 240 minuits of tape would give me about 8 hours continuous recording. But used to take ages looking through it. These new setups allow motion detection built in to recorders.

Pine Marten.

[Mobee]

I check out my back garden most nights before going to bed to see if my hedgehog is paying a visit (I am told it could be a number of different hedgehogs although there is only one at any time). Anyway two nights ago I pulled back the curtains and there in the middle of the garden was a fox I couldn't believe it, there has never been one before. I called my daughter and we watched him for some time until he did a circuit of the garden and then disappeared. What a treat! :)

[Pine Marten]

First hedgehog of the new year arrived in the garden on the 19/02/09. Not seen it since. Probably got hungry. One of my regulars from last year i suspect.

Pine Marten.

[Jenny]

No sign here yet - but am putting in order for food as for first time since before Christmas has warmed up - freezing last weekend - now have frogspawn.

[Hazelnuts]

No sign here yet - but am putting in order for food as for first time since before Christmas has warmed up - freezing last weekend - now have frogspawn.

Love to hear more about your Hedgehogs, Jenny

Keep us informed of any changes that occur! Thought about any wildlife that is suffering in the cold spell, and I hope all survives - no matter what!

[Kerry L]

One has left his calling card yesterday, I wonder if this means the end of the cold spells, or whether it was just a midnight snack.

[Hazelnuts]

One has left his calling card yesterday, I wonder if this means the end of the cold spells, or whether it was just a midnight snack.

Hi Kerry

At least you know that you have one around Kerry. Yes, they have their little daily habits and times that they like to visit a personal garden. :)

We have had Hedgehogs around us over the last 2 years or so. They like the ground feeders, and the food provided for them. Last year we had an adult and an offspring together who would visit at approx 9pm every night. :)

One morning I woke up, and the baby Hedgrhog managed to slip under our back door, and into our corridor between the house and the garage.
I opened the door, and do not know who got the biggest fright, but there he was. I quietly chased him out into the back garden once more. That was the last I saw of him. Hope that he was alright. :)

I want to put out dog food out at night for him, but I feel it would attract the wrong attention ie Cats, Rats, Mice and Foxes and I do not want that at all. Might cause a fuss with the neighbours and that would not be a good thing either as we get along very well. :D

[Pine Marten]

Tried the usuall catfood and branded hedgehog food and mine would not touch it. Good job starlings eat most things.
So i tried them with dried mealworms and never looked back since. They will eat all that i put out. And plenty water as well. Have heard though not tried it yet will eat cooked chicken.

Pine Marten.

[Hazelnuts]

hi Kerry

I forgot to ask - how many Hedgehogs have you seen around your garden? I hope that this is them coming out of hibernation now! Must be a sign that spring has sprung! :)

What do you feed them with? :)

[chilternbirder]

I don't know if it is just where I live but these days I am more likely to see a badger (usually as road kill sadly) than a hog.

[Jandy]

Lovely to hear about your hogs. Hope we will be able to see the odd photo in due course. I can't recall seeing a hedgehog pic on Members' Photos ever! Is this because they only come out after dark? We haven't seen any here for years and years.

[Hazelnuts]

Lovely to hear about your hogs. Hope we will be able to see the odd photo in due course. I can't recall seeing a hedgehog pic on Members' Photos ever! Is this because they only come out after dark? We haven't seen any here for years and years.

hi Jandy

The Hedgehogs that we have seem in our back garden have always come out at Twilight time. Too dark for a photo unless you have a good camera..

The only time I have seen one in daylight is when a young small hedgehog managed to clamber under our back door and ended up in our passageway in broad daylight. He must have been too inquisitive for his own good.

We gently put him amongst the garden bushes, and he went on his way once more. He was none the worse for his experince. We saw him a few times after that with one of his parents (must have been teaching him the ropes LOL)

This was before we got our new camera. If this happened again, I will get a picture if possible as it would be a great addition to any Forum :)

Hi CB

I hope that you chance comes to see a Hedgehog.

The best time to try is in the late evening. You can hear their snuffling about (quite noisy too) before you see them

[Kerry L]

We only saw one this year, sometime at the beginning of October - at least there's one around.

[Jenny]

From a very ancient camera hence lousy quality, but here's one I took ages ago!

I've had a good hog year - six youngsters - all of whom have done well.

[Jandy]

That's a great pic, Jenny! What are you feeding him there? Looks like there are some sultanas with what looks like Ground Blend or chopped nuts.

[Jenny]

CJ's hedgehog food! They love it! The slight snag (sorry, CJs) is it's very expensive when you get a lot of hogs because they literally hog it! Sorry about pun.

But I move tubs around so they get the slugs - mistle and song thrushes beat them to the snails judging from the shells - and, as autumn sets in, I put fat feeders out at low level so the hogs can raid the bits - they can climb quite well!

BTW photo taken without flash from light of patio and inside lights. .

[Keith D.]

I don't know if it is just where I live but these days I am more likely to see a badger (usually as road kill sadly) than a hog.

Hi

If you have badgers you will never have hedgehogs
the badger is the only natural preditor to the hogs.

cheers

K/

[Keith D.]

hi Kerry

I forgot to ask - how many Hedgehogs have you seen around your garden? I hope that this is them coming out of hibernation now! Must be a sign that spring has sprung! :)

What do you feed them with? :)

Hi

we have 2 wild hogs coming to the garden already and its still very
cold at night

we have a purpose built feeding station for them which contains
kitten biscuits//dried mealworms//water

we also have 3 more asleep in wooden hog houses
in the undergrowth of the garden i think they will stretch a leg soon
been asleep since early December

K/

[Keith D.]

Tried the usuall catfood and branded hedgehog food and mine would not touch it. Good job starlings eat most things.
So i tried them with dried mealworms and never looked back since. They will eat all that i put out. And plenty water as well. Have heard though not tried it yet will eat cooked chicken.

Pine Marten.

Hi

Try some Kitten biscuits
Royal canine persian 32 is a favorite here
like you ours wont touch tinned meat yet about 3 miles away
a friend has them and her's eat it every night

weird

K/

[Jenny]

Well, I've been waiting and watching and hoping and at last a hog has appeared! I was very frightened they wouldn't have made it with temperatures so low for so long - almost six weeks with the temperature not above zero! Needless to say it was very hungry and was scoffing the food I hastily put out!

[Jenny]

I have a big problem! I must move a woodpile in my garden as soon as possible and I'm hoping no hogs have settled down there. I'm proposing to shift the pile onto rough ground adjacent to the garden but am concerned about what to do if I find any hogs - we no longer have someone looking after them on the island. My hog house (fortunately unoccupied) got smashed when unseasonal gales blew a branch off a tree next door and, having to buy new computer and with new tyres imminent, money is just not there to get a new one.
Any advice, please?

[PiratesAhoy!]

They're not hibernating right now, so they should be able to find/make a new home if you move the log pile.

Better to do it now rather than later when they are thinking of hibernation.

[Nature__Lover]

Hi every1.
I have at least 1 hedgehog that visits the garden, and am hoping he will find our garden useful for hibernation.
Will a log pile and a big pile of dead leaves be enough?

[PiratesAhoy!]

Yes, usually that's what they use. I've also seen 'hogs using plastic bags, crisp packets, all sorts of things to tuck themselves up and keep warm with, but leaves are more 'natural' :)

[Missmoneypenny]

Hi everyone,,,I am new here and have put this post somewhere but cant fine it now,lol,, so here goes again. I have been feeding a three gorgeous hedgehogs in the garden for about 3 months. We are down to the one now and he has been using the box my husband made for him for about 2 weeks. The little piles of dry leaves I left nearby have disappeared and I can only hope they are in the box with him. Does anyone think it is likely he will use the box to hibernate??? He doesnt seem to wander far from the garden and my husband has named him Harold.

[Pine Marten]

Hi mmp, i replied to your earlier post. It in the thread Hedgehog Query.

Pine Marten.

[Missmoneypenny]

Thanks so much Pine Marten,,,thats brilliant