Hi daffydill
Hedgehogs do sometimes become habituated to humans, but it isn’t really a good thing. Not all humans are friendly to hogs and some are the opposite. It is not a natural thing, it would require certain behaviour and encouragement from the humans to achieve it. Also humans are predators and becoming too habituated to one type of predator could make them less wary of others. Better that they keep their own natural respect of all kinds of predators.
Having said that I know that Jens tries to encourage the children to care about the hogs as well. But that always has to be weighed up against the potential problems which could be caused to the hedgehogs. To me, before ANY interaction with a hedgehog we need to ask ourselves, is this interaction for the benefit of this hedgehog or hedgehogs as a whole. If the answer is no, or even unsure, then the hog should be left to get on with it’s life as a wild hedgehog undisturbed.
Offering them food and water, providing shelter is fine – the hogs have a choice whether to eat/drink/use it, or not – and we can watch from a respectful distance. That way the hog can still live a normal wild hedgehog life.
