Hi Daffydill,
Thing is with hedgehogs is you never know for sure how many there are! Although you have seen three, there could be many more you haven’t spotted, and if you have two or more hedgehogs that are about the same size it can be virtually impossible to tell them apart.
I leave out as much food as I need to. During the summer it’s not so crucial, (unless you are specifically feeding a nursing mother or baby hoglets, who are always grateful for a little extra help) but at this time of year they are trying to put on as much weight as possible to get them in good shape for hibernation. Male hogs can apparently go into hibernation as early as September, so it’s a pressing and immediate problem for them. At the same time, their natural food sources are starting to decline. Not quite the dearth there will be in midwinter, but definitely not as much as there was in summer. There’s also more competition between hogs as they are all trying to eat as much as possible, especially the hoglets and juveniles. Although there is still some wild food around, eating the pet food we leave out for them is a lot more efficient, because they are able to eat a lot in one sitting, as it were, rather than running all over the shop finding food, where the running around uses the precious calories they are getting from their food. They will still eat the natural food, although you may not always notice as it happens largely on the move, but any supplementary food you can provide will be gratefully received and is a significant benefit to the hogs, increasing their chances of surviving the winter.
You are correct in that they are wild animals and I understand your concern about them becoming reliant on the food. This is usually a major concern with predators when there is a chance they will stop hunting prey, or in the case of youngsters, never learn how to hunt properly, and would be unable to fend for themselves should the food sources be removed. While hedgehogs are technically predators, the don’t have to stalk or chase down their prey, they just rootle in the garden for the small invertebrates that they eat. Although feeding them is helpful, they won’t stop foraging for themselves, and there is no danger of them losing the ability to forage. Even hedgehogs who have been overwintered with a carer are able to find their own food when released in the spring.
If you can, I would encourage you to put out as much food as you can, especially as their wild diet will decline further through autumn. You will probably find dry pet food is more economical to buy, and also has the advantage that it will last ages without going off, as long as it doesn’t get wet. It also has more energy, gram for gram, than wet food. Even after they go into hibernation, hedgehogs will wake up periodically and go out to forage, so it would be very helpful for them if there was some food available when they wake hungry and there is very little natural food available.
I’m sure you do this anyway, but please make sure there is always water available. It’s not been sunny in the past couple of weeks, but it’s also not been raining, and a lot of the usual puddles and water sources are long gone.
