Greedy hedgehog
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Hi,
We had a hedgehog visiting every night about 10:30 and one night we noticed a smaller one looking longingly at the food bowl from a distance so I put some food out for this one as well. The smaller one now visits us every night around 10pm. It devours the food I put out and then runs across the garden to eat the other hedgehogs food. I was worried it was eating too much so split the food between the two bowls. The smaller one now hangs around until 10:30 when I put more food out for the other hedgehog, suddenly appears and devours that as well. There has only been one occasion when the the smaller one tried to share with the other hedgehog and the larger hedgehog let him know in no uncertain terms that there was no sharing!
I’m not sure if the larger one still visits. The food is always gone, but it could be the little greedy one eating it. Should we be worried about how hungry this one is? Like I said, he knows more food comes out and suddenly appears to eat it. One night he appeared from the other side of the bush…..think he was trying to con me into thinking it was a different one! Obviously we don’t want our little friend to starve, but at the same time I don’t want him eating too much.
Hi Kerry JW
Yes, some hogs become very wise to our routines re. food! But wild hogs don’t tend to over-eat. They do grow incredibly fast when they are hoglets, so need a fair amount of food for that. So unless you are offering very large portions, I wouldn’t worry too much. It may be that the little hog isn’t getting much food elsewhere, especially in this dry weather we’ve been having. But it is also possible that you have more hogs visiting than you realise. They can appear very similar when they’re hoglets.
You might already, but in case not, it’s a good idea to leave water available all day every day just in case a dehydrated hog appears during the day – even in winter.
Good luck and happy hog watching!
Hi Nic,
We have a regular visiting hedgehog at 9:30 in the evening and he/she is waiting by the back door if I’m not on time! Hubby has built a house in the hedge he/she appears from so we hope that one might move in. Will make sure I leave water out during the day around the garden just in case. Thank you, Kerry
Hi KerryJW
It’s funny how some of them seem to know the time! I used to have one who turned up like clockwork – could almost set your watch by her visits! Sounds like the one there doesn’t want to risk missing out on anything!
Good luck with the hog house (well done to hubby for building it). It’s a good idea to put a handful of material (favourite nesting material is medium sized leaves, grasses, etc.) in the box to give them the idea and leave some more nearby – most hogs seem to like to do their own interior decorations! Hope you get a tenant soon.
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