I suspect the behaviour you are seeing is caused by a large male keen on starting the courting season and smaller females who are still recovering from the winter. Perhaps the larger hedgehog has a health problem which is making it irritable and erratic.
Three years ago, I used to leave one food bowl in the open (water saucer nearby, too). One night, a small hedgehog arrived first and scoffed all the food. Just after he/she had finished, a large hedgehog arrived and found the bowl empty. He/she walked off, then returned just to headbutt the smaller hedgehog (who was still near the bowl, curled up), and then walked off again! After a few minutes the small hedghog uncurled and went on its way. Quite funny to watch. Clearly the larger hedgehog was quite pissed off with the smaller one for having eaten all the food! Maybe the behaviour shown by the large hedgehog in your garden is something to do with putting off the others from eating “its” food – like the “dog in the manger” fable?
