Video footage of our day walker
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First attempt of uploading & posting a video – please bear with it until the end!
I was on my way down the garden to feed our Hog when there she was I took the opportunity to drop the food bucket & get her on film. I hope you enjoy.
I have to confess I have been giving her meal worms as well as dried hog food, I wasn’t aware of the health implications of meal worms & I have now ordered some “I love hedgehogs” food instead of the meal worms.
what a lovely video! I only get 15 sec. videos from my wildlife camera so nowhere near as much information! and the birdsong! I couldn’t tell if it was a male or female – although I didn’t spot a ‘belly button’ which is the usual giveaway for a boy! If only they wore blue or pink ribbons!! My hogs are much rounder though – maybe getting too much food!! And I wasn’t aware of the mealworm issue either until recently – you think you are doing the right thing but then discover you’re not! But so lucky to see him/her so close. Ours have run past us at night but not in daylight.
Hi Rainy
Well done for getting the video on here so quickly. It is really interesting to see the hog. As DwarfHog said, not really possible to tell whether male or female. It spent quite a lot of time doing what I call ‘slinking’ i.e. stretched out long and low to the ground. It is difficult to tell without something to use as a size guage, but I wonder whether it is a comparative youngster. When they get older their heads tend to look smaller in relation to their bodies. But it isn’t always easy to tell with camera angles, etc.
It certainly seems to be quite happy out in the day, and as you say seems ok. Although a bit worrying because it is obviously more at risk if/when it leaves your garden. I do wonder whether it is looking a bit thin, but that might just have been because of the ‘slinking’. But if you have been feeding primarily mealworms, it may not have been putting on weight as it should (if a youngster). It’s possible that’s why it’s out during the day, too, looking for food. Another possibility is that it has been a rescue hog for some reason in the past and isn’t quite so clever at foraging yet so is relying on you for food.
I know it is very tempting because they are so cute, but I would be wary of letting it get too used to you, ie. feeding it when you are near, etc. Whilst we wouldn’t harm them, it is really best for hogs not to become to accustomed to humans. We have heard recently on the forum of a hog being used as a football. But if they are habituated to humans they may become less wary of other predators too.
I’m glad you are getting the hog some hog food. You may need to add a few mealworms to start with and gradually reduce them, because the hog may have become addicted to them. Don’t be too hard on yourself for feeding, mealworms. You can’t know something till you find out and the important thing is what happens going forward.
Like DwarfHog said, it’s a lovely video. The little hog certainly seems to be a character and illustrates, well, how inquisitive hogs are. Good luck with him/her and I hope he/she gradually becomes more nocturnal, but at the same time continues to visit you. Enjoy hogwatching!
Thank you both for taking the time to respond and for the precious Hedgehog insight.
I will take on board your advice and keep my distance!
Nic, I think you could be right about him being hungry during the day, I was out all day Saturday so didn’t see him but put a bowl of Spikes dinner out at 8pm, he finally arrive at 9 and scoffed the lot, I watched from inside the house.
Sunday – no sign of him all day to the point of getting worried but again he turned up at 9.20pm and scoffed all the spikes dinner.Monday the food I put out during the day remained untouched but he turned up again after 9pm for dinner.
Hopefully a better diet and s full tummy will help him sleep through the day.
Ps…my new “I love hedgehog food” arrived today so I see how he likes it (from a distance) I think I’ll still offer the spikes dinner as he seems to enjoy it and the cats aren’t interested in it.
Hi Rainy,
thanks for the video. I’m glad to hear that night time patterns have returned for this little chap or chapess and that hes eating and drinking well. From my perspective I would conclude that the day time appearance was hunger related desperation – that little hog is / was very thin in the video – when you see the rear haunches through the spiky coat as the video shows up, they are pretty much on the brink of starvation and they look rugby ball shaped when they curl up. His legs also looked very thin. The spiky coat hides how thin they can get underneath. when you’ve seen him more recently is he looking a little rounder at all? keep up the good work – you’ve probably saved this little one’s life at the crucial point.
Hi Rainy
That’s really good the little hog is reverting to more normal hog timings. Also that it is eating Spikes. The main thing is that he/she eats something other than mealworms and sounds like you’ve already won that battle. If you’ve found he/she likes Spikes I would definitely continue with it, even if you offer some of the other as well. Hopefully he/she will quickly put on weight.
Good luck.
So my little day walker is still with us BUT is now a full time night owl! He did move to a more over grown part of the garden but with all the rain over the past few days he’s now moved in to the shed ( we have a small hedgehog door to the shed and a pallet stuffed with straw is where he’s chosen to stay). He’s eating well and prefers the foil trays of cat food rather than any of the Hog food I’ve bought him.
What a lovely video!
I was feeling a little guilty, as I had turned to leaving just mealworms in the feeding stations, because it’s the only thing the local cats won’t bother trying to force their way inside to scoff!
I have read that mealworms aren’t the best food to leave out exclusively, but Spike’s Dinner & other foods for hedgehogs are not only sought by cats, but were usually rejected by the hedgehogs!
I don’t think our visiting hedgehog is becoming addicted to mealworms, as he’s only eating the dried mealworms occasionally – He’s often spotted on the night camera, browsing around the garden….hopefully not chomping too much on baby frogs!
He has been drinking a lot of water – our videos are set for 45 seconds duration, and he’s often still drinking when it ends.Hi Guineveresot
There are many other hog foods than Spikes. Many of which are not so much like cat food and which mostly cats leave. For instance ‘I love hedgehogs’. Most people find that even hogs which have been eating mealworms will transfer to that or other similar brands quite easily.
It really would be best if you don’t leave mealworms out for the hogs. As well as having the wrong ratio of phosphorous to calcium which can cause leaching of calcium from the bones, they really are not sufficiently nutritious. Think of it like humans with crisps or chocolate. If they eat mealworms they are not leaving so much space to eat the more nutritious things. Unlike humans they are less likely to overeat.
In many ways it is probably better to leave nothing out than to leave out mealworms. The problem is particularly bad when hoglets are around, as they are more likely to become addicted and at the same time, because they are growing, really need the best nutrition we can give them. I really do encourage you to try something better it will lead to healthier hogs which is what we need.
Many people have written on the forum about how they have managed to keep cats out of their feeding ‘boxes’. You might like to try some of those ideas.
Good luck.
Hi Rainy
Really pleased to hear that the little hog has been doing so well. He really has ‘landed on his feet’ – having his own door to the shed! A pallet stuffed with straw sounds ideal. He’s obviously got you completely where he wants you with regard to food too. Cat food is fine for them if that’s what they prefer. Hope he continues to do well.
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