My hoggies have stopped visiting :-(

[RachH72]

Hello,

I’m a bit worried that something has happened to our hedgehogs. Every night I put fresh food in their feeding station and water in a shallow dish just outside. Three of them would visit every night without fail, a little girl and two boys. Sometimes even a couple more would turn up too. I have a trail camera set up to watch the feeding station to see who visits.
But over the last couple of weeks they have been visiting less and less until only one visited for a couple of nights and then last night there was none at all.
Could it be that they are just getting plenty of their natural food and don’t want the hedgehog food at the moment? I would’ve thought they would still pop by for a drink of water even if they don’t want the food.
I hope they come back. I miss seeing them.

[Nic]

Hi RachH72

This is a problem we have every year, with hogs disappearing. The worry always is that it is some sinister reason, but that isn’t always the case. There are loads of reasons why they might disappear. Females could be producing young ones, and males, who have bigger ranges, may be concentrating on other parts of their range – especially if the female is currently absent as well. There may be other females around in other parts of their ranges.

But there are other possibilities. Someone else nearby may have started providing food and water, the hogs’ route to your garden may have been blocked somewhere and the hogs haven’t yet found a way round, etc. With so many people with extra time on their hands, it may be that people have been doing repairs to their fences, etc. Some may even have been making hog holes as well, providing more options for the hogs.

I would keep putting out some food and definitely always leave water out, preferably all day every day, just in case. Hopefully some hogs will return and you never know, maybe even some hoglets later on.

Good luck.

[RachH72]

Hi Nic,

Thanks for replying to me.
Thankfully, a couple of males have returned for brief visits. The female that used to visit as regular as clockwork hasn’t been seen for a couple of weeks, so I hope she’s ok wherever she is. I’m hoping she’ll turn up again with a little family 🙂

[Nic]

Hi RachH72

That’s really good news some hogs have reappeared. Fingers crossed the female is busy with young ones.

[Author]

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