Multiple hogs
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Last year we had a female nesting and having her 3 babies in our garden, this year we have 4 visiting or living in our garden, is it likely that it’s mum and babies all returned? We have 4 separate feeding stations which they all share and no fighting between them.
Hi Diana may
It’s possible, but really difficult to say. I have found that the males eventually tend move on after coming back to start with after hibernation. But the females tend to stay around. Some females seem to get on quite well with other females, but not necessarily all. For instance I had a female who used to visit here regularly and she would tolerate two of the other females (even sharing bowls) but was always grumpy with another one. I always wondered whether the two she tolerated were relatives – they had some striking similarities in appearance – possibly daughters or sisters, but there was no way of knowing for sure.
I suppose if the hog there had 3 daughters … That would be good for the prospects of the hedgehog population! But were they all the same size when they returned. The babies would still have been smaller than the Mother at that stage.
But it’s lovely that you have four hogs visiting. I hope they continue to thrive. Good luck and happy hog watching!
Thank you nic, yes 3 of them were smaller than the other so maybe they are last year’s babies, the smaller ones don’t seem to mind sharing bowls either, also last night the larger one (mum I’m calling her)! had a liaison with a 5th visitor so think maybe another brood will be with us over the next few weeks hopefully she will remain here in the garden to raise them once again, exciting times!
Hi Diana may
That does sound exciting! Fingers crossed for more hoglets this year.
The youngsters often don’t mind sharing bowls. When they are pre-hibernation, they even sometimes seem to prefer to share – either with other youngsters or even adults, whether it’s their parent or not. That includes with males who are usually very tolerant of youngsters – until they reach a certain size and then they are often unceremoniously nudged out of the way!
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