Hi RayGod
Goodness you’ve trawled up an old topic!
That’s bad news that the badger is still around. I think I would stop feeding the hedgehogs. You just can’t trust a badger just because it didn’t kill the hedgehog one time, that it won’t another time. Especially if it can’t access the food, so may be very hungry. What we feed the hogs is only supposed to be supplementary. The hog should be able to find food for itself, but is at risk from the badger. But if you do stop feeding, I would leave water in various places. It’s often harder for hogs to find water than to find food.
I have mentioned before the badger which apparently became used to feeding beside a hedgehog but one night suddenly turned on it and killed it, despite other food being still avaialable. It’s actually quite worrying that the hedgehog with you didn’t seem scared of the badger. It would have a bit more chance if it rolled up completely.
Re. the self annointing. It’s one of those things that isn’t completely understood. Sometimes they do it in response to an unusual smell. So it may be that it had the smell of badger on it, if the badger pulled it out of the way. But also possible that the fear aspect could have contributed. The only time I’ve seen self annointing was when I released a hog who had been in hog hospital and she self annointed before leaving the release box. It could be argued that it had something to do with the smell of captivity, but also potentially she may have had some trepidation about venturing back into the world. Hard to say for sure. Maybe one of those secrets which hogs will keep to themselves!
