Yesterday a hedgehog came towards our feeding station at about 6pm. (I realised it was there when I saw it underneath the chair I was sitting on.) I got it some food which I gave to it on the patio. It ate a fair bit and then it walked off towards our front garden and into a bushy area there.
I assumed this visit was a one off. The hedgehog appears fit and healthy with no evident wounds and walks well.
Tonight at c7.10pm we heard a noise and went to the back door and saw that the hedgehog had gone into the feeding station. There was no food there so I got a sachet, put it in the bowl and shut down the feeding station lid. For the next 10-15 minutes the box made a lot of noises.
When the hedgehog immerged I expected it to take the same route towards the front garden (like yesterday) but it went further into the back garden and disappeared into the bushy area which we call the rockery.
I had wondered whether it was a female with babies and was just popping out early for food but if so I would have expected it to have gone back via the same route. It did see me both days (and my cat today) but that did not stop it eating. Today it ate the whole sachet of cat food in that one sitting.
Is it likely to be a female with babies or just a random hungry hedgehog?