Hi heggie1
I was so sorry to hear about the poor hedgehog. It all sounds very distressing for you.
Sometimes young foxes will ‘play’ with hedgehogs and do as you described, but also sometimes foxes become ‘specialists’ at killing hedgehogs. They apparently wait until they unroll and then pounce. Of course the hogs will be more likely to unroll with foxes around if they become accustomed to them if, for example, they are fed together. I’m not suggesting you were feeding them together, but some people do.
So thank you for being brave enough to write this on here, it can’t have been easy for you. But it’s important that people realise what foxes can do and not assume that because hedgehogs and foxes sometimes eat with each other with no problem that that will always be the case. So by writing this you may be helping other hogs as well.
I know it’s difficult, but try not to think too badly of foxes. They are wild animals and have a whole different concept of things than we do. The problem for all wild animals is that their habitat has reduced so much that different species are more likely to come into contact with each other.
I feel so sad for you that you’ve had to stop feeding the hedgehogs. I know how much pleasure watching them can give, so it must be a huge loss. But you have done your best for that and the other hogs and that’s all we can do.
