2024 February – our spiky visitors have returned
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Spotted an extremely big hedgehog in my garden a few weeks ago, haven’t seen one that size since the 1980’s & I wonder if he/she can even get into my hedgehog feeder. Someone is enjoying the kitten kibble as most nights everything is gone & the water has been drunk too, here goes another year of hedgehog activity & I’m so glad to be part of it.
Hi Annie
Great news about the big hedgehog! I expect he/she will make his/her way into the feeder somehow – it’s amazing the shapes they can squeeze through when they really want to. Hopefully lots more hedgehogs soon!
None here yet – just checked the video.
Hi Nic
Looking out the back just after midnight last night one of the lights had gone off & there was a hedgehog scurrying down the path away from the feeder. Checked this afternoon & the food’s all gone so hopefully that was a satisfied customer!
Yes they can flatten themselves tremendously, to the extent that instead of going through a nice hole provided for their access they limbo under a gate.
Hi Annie
Good to hear you’ve had another sighting! Yes, they definitely like to do their own thing re. access routes. Some here used to do similar – squeeze under the gate about 6 inches away from the hole which they probably could have run through!
The good news is there was a hedgehog on the video here last night. Sadly no food was out because there were 2 rats a few days ago (there was no food for them and they haven’t been seen since). But there was water, of course. Hopefully the hedgehog will be back tonight, but not the rats! Fingers crossed.
Oh, happy day (or night for the hogs!) to learn they are returning.
I have been caught wrong footed as I’ve been away and didn’t want to leave a non -reliable source of extra food out early in the year.
Feeding station/food going out tonight! (water always available) And yes, I love the way they squeeze through the tightest of gaps with a rasp of spines when there is a ruddy great hole to invite them in 🙂
And finally a big thanks to all on this forum – so much hate on the ‘interweb’ but only kind support/ information for us hedgehog folk here.Hello not been on this site for many years I also have a hedgehog sleeping in a hotel by the back door
HI Nic
Oh no, blinkin rats! Hope they go away as you haven’t put food out for a few days, such a problem. The one I saw here was out during the day which was easy to spot & I think unusual as they don’t like being around people.
Fingers crossed they stay away & the hogs return asap.
Hi Celeste
Good luck with your hedgehog visitors, glad you leave a permanent supply of water as if all else fails they always need that.
Hi Annie
I probably shouldn’t say this (it often invites trouble!) but I haven’t seen the rats since the hogs have been back.
The first hedgehog was back the next night, luckily, and now there have been at least 3. Two of them often at the same time and their behaviour seems to indicate one is a female, albeit a smallish one and looks too young for breeding. She doesn’t seem quite sure how she should behave, but he has been circling even if not hugely enthusiastically. The other poor chap has been blobbed already. Hopefully all the rain will wash him clean again.
I think the little one may be/have been using one of the hog boxes as she seems to disappear there quite often.
Re. the rats – it might depend how hungry they are. There have been quite a few here, in the past, that have come out in the day – brazen little things! Fingers crossed they stay away this year. Lots of hogs around seems to put them off, so here’s hoping! The small hog turns up quite early, which is helpful – less chance for the rats to get any food
I hope you have also had some more hedgehog sightings. Good luck.
I hope you have some hedgehogs soon, Celeste. If you haven’t already. Hopefully they’ll remember from last year that your garden is a good place to visit!
Welcome back Sammy9. Good news a hog has been using the hotel outside your back door. Hopefully a good place for lots of viewings.
Good luck, both.
Oh, they’re back for sure! 🙂 Aren’t we hedgehog folk are a rare breed that get excited about finding poo strewn/smeared around the garden? Ne’er a strimmer or artificial grass to be found here but lots of free organic fertiliser! 🙂
Going off subject – I was catching up on my forum reading; saw a post from Annie re: glue traps. I’d never heard of them before. Horrific! I see to be banned from UK from next month but also still for sale on those well known internet sites. Hopefully that will be the end of them, but I will try to learn more. Thank you Annie.
Finally; the Alpha magpie is still trying to become a limbo dancer and access any crumbs left in the hedgehog feeding station. There is plenty of bird/ natural food available in the garden but it is determined to succeed; better entertainment than the telly! 🙂Hi Nic
Been a few months since I’ve visited here, hopefully the rat situation has improved for you & your hog visitors have sorted themselves out now.
Still having activity here most nights, there was a very healthy looking hog in the garden last week in the afternoon, behaving quite normally bumbling around looking for food I think possibly escaping hoglets for some peace whie they slept. I gave her (?) some kitten biscuits where she was under the herbs & they happily munched them then disappeared again. I’m making sure there’s always food in the feeder during the day now just in case & extra water containers around the garden. There was no sign of anything amiss other than being out at daytime, the magpies weren’t interested as they would have been if it was a sick animal.
Went out yesterday evening to top up the food & there was someone already in the feeder so I left them in peace. Late last night there was a lot of huffing going on in the front garden, fell asleep to the sound! Good to have them still around regularly, hope yours are too.
Hi Celeste
You’re right about us hedgehog fans, there’s lots of poo in my garden & it makes my heart feel full!!
Great you have them & those of us who do generally are offering extra hospitality rather than just letting them find worms etc so the expression ‘feed them & they will come’ is reaping rewards for both us & the hogs. Having a hedgehog hole in the gate/wall/fence helps too.
Re your limboing magpie, I have a piece of vinyl flooring in the feeder under the dishes to make it easier to clean & one of the magpies learned to push its beak under the edge of the feeder wall & pull the vinyl out complete with whatever biscuits the hogs had dropped! I’ve thwarted them now by fitting a larger piece that won’t come out.
Hi Annie
Nice to hear from you. Sorry for the delay replying.
Unfortunately there is still a ratty visiting, but as the food is sprinkled on the grass the hogs still get a look in – there seem to be nightly visits. There were definite signs of a female a while back with a male showing interest, so I hope numbers have been boosted – and that some hoglets come to visit!
I was a bit worried a while back about the scarcity of bats around, but there seem to be a fair few around now. They seem to like it around my mini-shrubbery, which is good. Love hearing their various sounds on the bat detector, even if I’m not sure which species they all are!
Glad to hear you are still getting regular hedgehog visitors. Fingers crossed for some hoglets there, too!
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