Reply To: Hedgehogs galore

[James]

Thank you for all your replies. Thanks for your advice Nic I will check that website for tips. Living out here in the Gloucester countryside there is nothing I can do to deter the rats, foxes and feral cats. The fact that
the hedgies accept that they are there and carry on regardless is amazing.
The amount of air time I have on video is fantastic. So far this month I have
308 videos, 10 seconds long, and I delete the ones that are to the edge of the video or of poor quality. The hedgies tend to be out feeding from about 9ish to as late as 0500 in the morning. Infact last night I was late putting the food out, and was greeted by grunts of disapproval from a waiting hedgie. Pretty certain it was a female hedgehog who we have named “Surrey” because of her white fringe on her forehead. Last nights videoing brought another 32 clips of their activities. Over the last few months we have found that since April each month has produced a higher increase in their activities. July we had a total of 258 good video clips. We are undecided about some of their habits. Some settle down to eat and are quite happy to share a bowl and space together. However we see some dance infront of others, “a hog jive”, as though they are pleased to see each other. The males meeting up tend to push and shove one another with the victor getting the spoils. However even the defeated manly hog still stays in the area and waits patiently to eat later. Despite this we enjoy their antics every morning viewing. Pairs and the odd threesomes seem to be more common over the last month or so. Surely this is to late to mate with Winter around the corner, and the fact that food will be in short supply. Or are they crafty, and realise that people like us, are out there feeding them through the rougher times?