Hi Penny
I was surprised myself that the hedgehog killed the fledgling, and I think it was possibly out of the nest earlier than it should have been. You may also remember when someone on Hedgehog Street last year witnessed the killing of a pigeon in their neighbours garden. As I said at the time, I suspect on that occasion the bird must have been unwell, otherwise why was it on the ground during the night. Nevertheless, it is known that hedgehogs will, on occasion, kill birds. They are opportunists and if something they feel they can tackle crosses their path, they will tackle it. I am always surprised that slow worms feature on the list of things which hedgehogs will eat.
Whilst I admire your attempting some personal research, a hatchling would not be particularly appealing to many, even carnivores. It probably would have very little substance in it, and I find that it is usually the ants which deal with these if they are left.
The thing about hens eggs, is that they are clearly far too big for most hedgehogs to tackle and their shells too strong, although, never say never! Hedgehogs are known to take eggs on occasion, but these would be likely to be much smaller eggs with thinner shells.
We also need to bear in mind that the hedgehogs in our gardens are better fed than they may be in places where they are not supplementary fed, and therefore may not be prepared to go to as great lengths to get food as might be the case elsewhere.
Glad to hear that Sven is still around. It is lovely seeing the young blackbirds around again. The current dominant blackbird here has several white feathers near his neck. There was one here a few years back, and for several years, who had a white mark on his face a bit like the head of an arrow. I suppose there must be something in the genes.
