Hi Hogmeister
The first time I saw hog biffing I was worried too. In those days I used to watch the hogs from upstairs and didn’t know who the individuals were. It was a bit like watching a play – enter stage right, exit stage left, etc. But there was one or possibly more very aggressive male/s. I called him/them Bruiser and I sometimes thought he looked as if he was trying to kill the other hog. But, as you say, they are very resilient and the hog always walked away apparently unharmed. I thought this biffing was aggressive enough, but this year I have seen one or two full blown fights, when the second hog refused to roll up and decided to fight back. These looked really scarey with the hogs shaking each other like terriers with rats. At that time it was all males around, the females hadn’t reappeared, so I can only assume, they were making a bid to move up the ‘pecking order’.
I noticed under the feeding topic you were thinking of trying suet grains. I’m not at all sure whether they are good for hedgehogs or not. They are not designed for them, but for birds and I have not seen them recommended, officially, for hedgehogs anywhere and would not want to risk it. At the risk of repeating myself, again, I would stick to hedgehog food, which should have been scientifically designed to provide hedgehogs with the correct nutritional balance. That way we shouldn’t go wrong.
Bernie – sounds like you are doing a good job there. Just be aware, that, although it is probably not common, foxes have been known to kill hedgehogs, so I would not encourage them to eat together.
Good to hear you have had some ‘dancing’ going on there. Hopefully good for the hedgehog population, but maybe not so good for all the plants they flatten in the process! Still it’s worth it if hoglets are the eventual outcome.
