Unprovoked Aggression
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I seem to be on a very busy hedgehog highway and have set up a number of feeding stations to cope with several visitors at once. Usually if two arrive together they simply eat from different bowls, no problem.
Twice now though I have witnessed a much larger hedghog arrive and behave with aggression to the others. Initially I thought this was just about food dominance, it comes in and butts the other out of the way, eats a couple of mouthfuls and runs off at great speed. Last night though it came along, butted the other and after a few mountfuls of food seemed far more interested in pursuing the little hedghog than eating.
Having scared the smaller hedghog away it then ran off before returning 10 minutes later and charging around the whole area sniffing loudly as if hunting. One of the regular hedgehogs was eating at a more seculded station and was clearly wary enough to stop eating and melt silently back into the bushes when the larger one was around.In the morning I found that the dish, which is usually empty, was still largely full of biscuits. This big hedgehog seems to charge in, start on all the others and then tear of before returning to scour the area but oddly not really eating.
What’s going on here? I thought hedgehogs weren’t territorial and what’s it doing if it’s not about the food? I have a nice little community of hogs and I don’t want this one scaring them all away. I’m new to hedghog world so what am I missing?
I suspect the behaviour you are seeing is caused by a large male keen on starting the courting season and smaller females who are still recovering from the winter. Perhaps the larger hedgehog has a health problem which is making it irritable and erratic.
Three years ago, I used to leave one food bowl in the open (water saucer nearby, too). One night, a small hedgehog arrived first and scoffed all the food. Just after he/she had finished, a large hedgehog arrived and found the bowl empty. He/she walked off, then returned just to headbutt the smaller hedgehog (who was still near the bowl, curled up), and then walked off again! After a few minutes the small hedghog uncurled and went on its way. Quite funny to watch. Clearly the larger hedgehog was quite pissed off with the smaller one for having eaten all the food! Maybe the behaviour shown by the large hedgehog in your garden is something to do with putting off the others from eating “its” food – like the “dog in the manger” fable?
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