Hi Phasmanmachina
I cannot stress to you too strongly how important it is that you don’t put mealworms, suet pellets, sunflower seed or any other bird food where the hedgehog feeds. None of these are good for the hedgehog and some positively harmful. Please just leave out the cat food or hedgehog food for her. It sounds as if she is very hungry if she is finishing everything.
Photos can be deceiving, but if that is the hedgehog we are talking about in the photo, she doesn’t look plump to me. She appears to be small and potentially underweight. Possibly one of last year’s hoglets, not yet full grown. All hedgehogs appear, to people who aren’t used to them, to be plump because of their spines, but this can be very deceiving. The fact that the hedgehog is out during the day time is a danger sign. I would recommend that you try to make contact with your nearest carer and discuss the situation with them. You can get their number from the BHPS on 01584 890801
I think many people were lucky enough to find they had hedgehogs visiting their gardens in the hot weather last Summer. Water is so important for them, really all day every day. It’s really nice that there have been hedgehogs there for so long. I hope they continue to be there for another 40 years.
