Hi WildCaz
Wow! You’ve been doing a lot of homework! It is a problem if someone nearby is feeding mealworms, although to be completely fair to them, not everyone realises they are not good for the hogs, especially if they are not on Hedgehog Street Forum. I have thought of putting up some sort of poster here, because I suspect that some of my visitors may have access to them somewhere, and are sometimes choosing to go there rather than here. I wish there was an official poster. Poster making is not something I am much good at! The trouble is mealworms, as well as sunflower hearts and peanuts are still included in the list of foods on Hedgehog Street. I did email suggesting that maybe they might consider changing the advice and, to be fair, ‘in moderation’ was added to the mealworm bit. But it doesn’t even mention hedgehog food at all. BHPS, on their site, say: ‘ The best things to offer are Hedgehog food, meaty cat or dog food or complete cat biscuits. The only drink that should be offered is water (especially in dry weather and when offering dry food).’ But it must be confusing for people, getting mixed messages. My feeling is the advice needs to be consistent. I think it probably needs more people to suggest it!
I’m not sure about the dried earthworms, etc. – whether they are a good idea or not – not being an expert, but I wonder whether the hogs would actually like them. I often find dead dried up earthworms near where the hogs have been feeding which they haven’t eaten. I wonder whether it would be a good idea to try one of the other hog foods, such as the one lots of rescue places mention – from Ark Wildlife, or ‘I love hedgehogs’ the ingredients of which looks to be very similar. They might be more inviting to some hogs than the hog or cat biscuits.
I hope you manage to entice the hogs back.
