Hedgehogs returned!
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Hi all
I’m new to this forum and have enjoyed browsing the posts and learning about hedgehogs from the experiences of all of you on here.
We noticed hedgehogs in our garden last summer and built a hog hut and put some cat food and water out. We saw at least two different identifiable hedgehogs (one big and one small!) and heard plenty of snuffling, shuffling and a fair bit of panting / chuffing amongst the hostas and in our large flower border. At this point we had to learn a bit more about these lovely creatures just to make sure all was OK… and I think the activity and noise was typical of healthy hogs just doing there thing!
This year the hedegogs have returned, and its beautiful to see them again and looking pretty healthy and active. We saw 4 at the end of the garden by the broken fence last weekend, where they seem to gain access – its next to overgrown corridors of space by the sides of a detached garage. Guess this must be a haven as it’s completely over grown and nobody goes there.
This year we definitely have one hog using the hog house as I’ve recorded him / her going in (… I bought a NatureSpy WildCam 2 – good little camera). It has also moved a lot of straw that we left around into the house so it might be planning on staying for a bit.
We have only been recording nightime activity for a few days and I already have plenty of questions / discussion points on behaviour that you might be able to help with:
1. When feeding from a a bowl of dry cat food, one hedgehog seems to be leaving a lot of moisture around compared to the other one. Not sure if its peeing or salivating, but it’s definitely leaving something behind… and it’s showing up as a dark patch on the patio under the IR light… Is this be seem by anyone else ?
2. This “leaky” hedehog seems to be a male as he is sniffing around another hedgehog, but sometimes walks backwards a bit as well… then he tries to do a bit of circling but the other one tries to avoid him getting round the back of her. Then a bit of gentle side nudging takes place… it’s quite a dance! Again I think this is normal courtship but not sure. One of these (I suspect the object desire…) might be the one nesting in the hog house.
3. There’s a visitor who feeds with two white patches of quills, on it’s rear and on its left flank. I don’t think its ticks or anything nasty as it looks like just paler prickles. Is this common?
4. At the moment we just put dishes of food out in the open . I’ve seen a feeding station is ideal to keep the cats off the food (… and there are many visiting cats in the night) but this will hinder recording and observing natural behaviour. I’m thinking of making a feeding station from a clear plastic storage box and incorporating a hole for the camera to sit in… anyone done this?
Many thanks, and thank you for sharing your hedgehog stories on here. It has inspired me to look further into the lives of these beautiful, iconic little animals, and want to help them and do what we can to stop their decline in numbers.
Andrew
Hi loved reading about your Hogs, i used to feed the hogs out in the open, but attracted too many cats so made one for them . Bought a large plastic tub and have 2 bowls, also had to put up a tunnel just big enough for hogs to get in, cats very clever. The marks on the hog are people marking them with maybe paint which is not good for hogs so they can identifiey them . Not sure what the leaking is, hopefully you get babies the circling behavior is courtship , which goes on forever lol. Look forward to hearing more stories good luck Sue
Hi Sue
Thanks for the response, yes will be making a feeding station at the weekend to keep the cats off. I also saw a big rat in last nights footage… a bit of a shock… so may feed hogs from dish or station only until bed time and then scatter a bit of dry food about the border for rest of night.
I’ll try and get a picture of the hog with the white spots, because I don’t think its paint… although it could be. Can’t be good for them to be painted randomly by a stranger, I wouldn’t like it…“Leaky” (… Big one) seemed OK last night (assuming it’s the same one) and not so sweaty and worked up. There was some more backwards walking last night from them both some train noises from the border…
Hi Sue
Thanks for the response, yes will be making a feeding station at the weekend to keep the cats off. I also saw a big rat in last nights footage… a bit of a shock… so may feed hogs from dish or station only until bed time and then scatter a bit of dry food about the border for rest of night.
I’ll try and get a picture of the hog with the white spots, because I don’t think its paint… although it could be. Can’t be good for them to be painted randomly by a stranger, I wouldn’t like it…“Leaky” (… Big one) seemed OK last night (assuming it’s the same one) and not so sweaty and worked up. There was some more backwards walking last night from them both some train noises from the border…
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