Hi Hoglet
I’m glad to hear Kayleigh survived the night. Well done for getting her help. I had a look at her on Jen’s Facebook page. 565g doesn’t sound too bad, to me, at the tail end of hibernation, especially if she had lots of parasites. Mind you, did that include the weight of the parasites?! It’s nice that she’s a female and hopefully will have hoglets of her own when the time comes.
I think there are other people who have had hedgehogs which don’t hibernate and some people leave food out all winter as you have. People have mentioned it on Hedgehog Street in the past, but there are probably lots of others who haven’t.
About the badgers. I don’t think it is as straightforward as badgers eating hedgehogs and I think you can’t always believe what you hear/read. Sometimes vested interests intervene in these sorts of debates. Hedgehogs will sometimes move away if there are badgers in their area, partly because they share similar food sources. (Around 80% of badgers’ diet is earthworms and they also eat slugs and insects). So it is not safe to assume that hedgehog numbers are lower in areas where badgers are present simply because the badgers have eaten the hedgehogs. Badgers and hedgehogs were living side by side for a very long time, until we humans came along and made life difficult for both species. Part of the problem is suitable habitat for both. The State of Hedgehogs 2018 says: “…. Badgers and hedgehogs, however, co-exist in many areas and a better understanding of the habitat features that support both is needed. ….”. If we want to have hedgehogs around then we need to create more suitable habitat for them. It would be very sad if we reached a situation that they only survive if we are artificially feeding them. They are wild animals and deserve to be able to live as wild animals.
If hedgehog numbers in your area are declining there are plenty of other things which could be the cause. Not least the A24 trap which the BHPS is petitioning about. Because it is a self re-setting trap, it has the capability of wiping out a whole population of hedgehogs in a very short space of time and that is what they are used for in New Zealand. I hope you have signed the petition and asked all your friends to sign and pass on the information. That trap is something the hedgehogs could really do without. https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/206274
Let us know how Kayleigh gets on.
