Normal winter behaviour

[SeagullSuzie]

I’ve had the camera set up for a couple of years now and it shows that my hedgehogs disappear at the end of September or very early October and come back out late January or early February. This seems to be their normal behaviour in my garden. I put our wet cat food and water in one feeding station and hedgehog biscuits in the other. At this time of year, the cat food is always eaten and the biscuits are not quite so popular. However in the summer months the biscuits are more popular.
It’s been a challenge to keep the water from freezing, but I’ve used a melamine cat bowl which has space underneath the bowl and between the feet, and put bubble wrap into these spaces, then put this inside the feeding station and it worked.

[Nic]

Hi SeagullSuzie

You might need to be checking a bit longer than a couple of years to get a really good idea of the pattern of when the hogs come back from hibernation, etc. Just two years could be be down to environmental factors either going into or coming out of hibernation. But it’s a good idea to keep a close watch and leave some food out earlier than you think they’ll return. But also there seem to be more that decide not to hibernate at all, these days.

Brilliant idea about how to stop the water from freezing – always a bit of a worry on those very cold nights and very necessary for the hogs who are out and about.

[Author]

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