Difference between a male and female hedgehog?
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We have a hedgehog (H1) who has been a regular visitor for a couple of years. Last year and this a larger hedgehog (Big H) visits irregularly but H1 seems to ram/headbutt whenever seen. Also, this year we have had a smaller/lighter coloured hedgehog (H2) which H1 leave alone, but huffs and puffs when seen. Is the big hedgehog male and the smaller one female? What is H1?
Hi HedgehogHappy
Not sure I have got this right. I think you mean H1 is biffing Big H, which would make me think they might both be males. It is normally the female who huffs, which makes me think that H2 might be a female. H1, who it sounds as if, is the more dominant male might not biff H2 because she is a female, but she may be a youngster so that he is not really interested in her.
There is no guarantee about any of that though. Here, females will, occasionally give other hogs a biff. But that would be my guess if I am reading what you said right. You cannot tell the difference by size. Some of the males can be smaller than some of the females.
There is a description of the difference between males and females on
http://www.hedgehog-rescue.org.uk/sexing.php. Sometimes you can tell when they scratch.Hope that hasn’t just muddied the waters even more! Hope you are enjoying their antics – sounds as if you are. Good luck – keep watching!
I’m even MORE confused than ever now, I have to say!! LOL!
We understood our recently injured Hog ( Florence..! Now Herb!! ) was a Female.. but seemingly not, after it’s week long stay at the Hogpital!!
Going by what I’ve ‘learned’ so far.. last night’s footage suggests that the larger female comprehensively ‘biffed’ our smaller male the full length of the pitch & back..!! ( scratches head, still unsure about any of it all ! ) ..confused further by the fact we have a 3rd Hog that also visits occasionally..!!
Either way, they all seem to be happy healthy Hogs – can’t ask for more than that!!
Hi Puds
It sounds unlikely, to me, that a female would biff another hog that far. Do you have a night cam. If so, you can sometimes see, either from the side or when they scratch – the males have a blob, or sometimes with the older ones it almost looks like a fifth appendage (or perhaps I should say sixth, if you count the tail) – but situated mid-abdomen. If you locate a camera quite low it is often visible.
But, maybe you have even more than 3 visiting!
I’m assuming, by what you say that Florence/Herb is back home – good news.
Hi, Nic !
Yes, I’m pleased to say Herb / Florence / Florian ( simbo’s excellent suggestion! ) is back on home turf & doing extremely well it seems..
..but honestly, with ( at least ) 3 regular visitors now, it’s become more like the card hustle, Find The Lady..!!
Having noted the particular appendage you mention previously, quite clear to see on night-cam footage ( from pretty much ANY angle to be fair..!!! ), during feeding & some highly amusing scratching sessions..! I was fairly confident our injured Hog was the female.. so much so, I caught & released the same Hog two nights running, falsely misidentified & returned to the box, with no clear indications other than the footage next morning showing it leaving with a lame leg..!!
Fortunately, Herb/Florence had another identifier in the form of a rogue, extra long quill.. or a piece of stuck hay ( as it turned out..! ), I had better luck the next night when all THREE pitched up at the same time..! With one box, & only one pair of ( gloved ) hands, at least I knew what I was looking for!!
Equally, of course – I didn’t want to stress them by over handling, but I have to say, the second night ‘Florence’ was all the more chilled at the prospect as it seemed it was becoming a regular occurrence..!!!
( I wonder.. is there a way to link a video in these Forum Posts..?! I’d love to share the dramatic ‘biff’ as described previously..!! No formal reintroductions.. instant & unexpected aggression from our otherwise cute critters..!! ) LOL!
Hi Puds,
Glad to hear Herb is doing well after his stay at the vets.
We have had 2 incidents of taking an injured and tick infested hogs to vets and on both occasions, when they came home they went off and as far as I can tell have never come back. Big daddy was very grumpy about it all! To be fair he may have been back since but I do have difficulty in identifying them all. He certainly didn’t come back before hibernation last year.
I only have 1 girl that visits and 2 regular boys at the moment. But it changes all the time and sometimes Jack will turn up followed by Splodge and the next night only Cyclopsina will make her regular early appearance.
I think they like to keep us guessing.
Happy hog watching.Hi Puds
re. putting a video on here. If it is already somewhere else on the internet you can just put the link on. Otherwise this link should tell you how to put them on YouTube.
https://www.hedgehogstreet.org/have-you-been-filming-your-hedgehogs/
I imagine once they’re there, you might be able to put a link on here, but not sure about that. But you can, at least, tell us where they are.
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