Accessibility Homepage Skip navigation Sitemap

Forum

Register and log in to gain access to our forums and chat about everything 'hedgehog'!

Thank you for looking to contribute to the Hedgehog Street forum. Please note that when submitting replies or posts, these are run through our spam-checkers, so there may be a slight delay in your posts appearing, and reflecting in the forum post details below. However, if you think anything has gone awry please contact us.

The views and opinions expressed in this forum do not necessarily represent the views of PTES or BHPS.

Home Forums Champions’ chat HH doesn’t leave box Reply To: HH doesn’t leave box

#22654
Avatar photo
Nic

Hi dudeUK

Welcome to the Forum!

It is unusual for a hog not to come out of the box for that long. However, it’s possible that the camera is just missing entries and exits. Some hogs seem to be very clever at evading being caught on camera – stories of hog invisibility cloaks are numerous! The cameras usually have a slight delay before something is detected and the camera actually triggers, and also there is usually a gap (often variable dependng on the settings you have) in time between images, when hogs can easily come or go. But that does also mean that the hog may no longer be in the box at all – i.e. may have left in time gaps between clips, and not returned. You might want to try the old trick of putting a twig, rolled up piece of paper or flower in the doorway to see whether it’s moved.

Cats wouldn’t worry hogs at all and I doubt whether a fox would stop one coming out for that long. But, if you’re feeding the hogs and there are foxes around, it’s best to create a foxproof feeding area – if you don’t already have one.

It’s possible that a female could be giving birth, although it’s a bit early. Peak hoglet birth time is normally June and July. But I wouldn’t have thought the female would have stayed in permanently for that long and not nipped out for a bite to eat and a drink. Don’t be tempted to open the box at this stage, just in case, because females can be quite touchy about being disturbed when they have very young ones.

In general cameras are just not as reliable as we sometimes give them credit for. Make sure your batteries are well charged, i.e. at least 2 bars showing on the power level symbol at the beginning of the night. Sometimes if the batteries are low, the cameras will pick up larger things, i.e. cats and foxes, but not smaller ones.

Good luck. Hope you manage to solve the mystery soon and are able to do some hog watching.

Hedgehog