Reply To: Badgers and Hedgehogs

[Penny]

Now I’m really worried…last night we were down to just one hedgehog! In over three years of feeding and recording hedgehogs this has never happened before in July, out of five bowls of food, four were completely untouched. At the same time last year one camera recorded five different males! In fact, we first discovered that we had hedgehogs in the garden because there was a similar dry spell and they all started turning up in their droves to drink from a large shallow seed tray which I left for the birds outside the back door. Since the sighting of the dead badger on the 27th June, very close to where we live, numbers have been steadily decreasing. I have racked my brains for other explanations, but have come up with nothing. I haven’t seen any casualties on the roads, there are four different entrances/exits to the garden, with one along a footpath, so even if someone put up a new fence or blocked up a hole it wouldn’t make that much difference. They are not even bothered about mealworms anymore; they much prefer the Purina One kitten biscuits, the half a dozen that I sprinkle on the top are usually left for the birds! So even if someone was leaving out stacks of them, I doubt that would make any difference either. Yes, we have tawny owls knocking about, but although they might be able to tackle a juvenile, I doubt very much that they would take on a large male. The only other explanation I can come up with is if the whole village has suddenly become aware of the hedgehogs plight and started feeding them all at the same time. I hope to goodness that is the case and as another member pointed out on another thread, we haven’t just been fattening them up for the badgers!!! 🙁 🙁 ;-(