Hi Altair
Seeing that ‘blob’ mid-abdomen is a good way to differentiate the males.
I hear what you say about other people being unlikely to be interested in hedgehogs, but hedgehogs can travel up to two miles (up to 3 kilometres) a night, so it may not be anyone very near. No-one ever wants to think someone is marking the hedgehogs, but that is the most likely – sadly some people do mark them. The chances of the hog finding some substance which is only seen in infra-red light and then self annointing itself so neatly, in such a clearly demarcated way, are pretty remote.
Yes, hogs can be quite messy. I used to have one here who always dug through the food sending it flying in all directions! But they do sometimes push their noses into food, or alternatively tip up bowls by mistake so food flies all over them! But if they are rooting around in the undergrowth they could equally get a bit messy.
