Autumn hoglet
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a small hog spotted in the back garden yesterday afternoon in broad daylight. It weighed in at barely 300g so I put it into a box with food and water. Must be from a late litter. Contacted the SSPCA and an officer came round a few hours later to take the wee hog to their rescue centre. I recently was on their website and purchased a couple of hedgehog unit sponsorships as birthday presents – so having sponsored, am now helping fill the units! Last night was very cold and frosty (I live just north of Inverness) so glad the hog was not out there. This year, the local hogs tended not to visit the feeder so I took to scattering dry food around the garden and was glad to see the occasional poo as proof they were still around. Otherwise summer 2023 was notable for seeing more long-tailed tits, a woodpecker, the regular red kites, and a couple of sightings of a hummingbird hawkmoth – (much to the interest of the county moth Recorder).
I came to find this post looking for guidance. As just some hours ago I spotted a small hedgehog on my garden. He went to feeding station but I forgot to fill the dish with spikes food. He then started wandering around in broad sunny daylight foraging on the garden beds. I managed to get him to feel his weight and look for any injury signs, he was small/light but looked ok. Released back to garden (not before i toped up food, which he ate a bit after uncurling). Now seeing the OP above, I think I should have instead taken him to our local rescue centre to be well taken care? I am concerned it may be a hoglet and wont survive our northwest winter (not sure how differentiate adult hogs from hoglets from this year’s litter, as we only observe them on night cameras)
If I see him again, shall I take to rescue center? Thank you for any guidance!hi, when I phoned the SSPCA they said that any hog weighing less than 450g would not survive – others quote higher weights. There are quite a few other posts in the forum (under other headings) and there do seem to be quite a few folks finding under-sized hogs. The one I found seemed healthy enough but was just small – would be very unlikely to put on enough weight to survive hibernation. Also it’s not a good sign if they are out and about in daylight (other than busy mother hogs looking for food/bedding during the breeding season). If you get the chance, I’d suggest you pop him on the scales and get advice from the helpline.. A box lined with newspaper and with an old towel for it to hide under is a good idea so you are ready when you see him! Hope all goes well
Thank you. I will see if I can catch him tomorrow to take to rescue center. As I hope with feeding station refilled he may come tonight, but based on past weeks/months his usual visiting time is after 1am until 4am and I am not able to be on stand by at that late time unfortunately. Will have to rely on him returning during day, fingers crossed!!!
good luck! this leaflet may be helpful https://www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk/autumn-juveniles
Thank you Mags, the link is very useful. Hedgehog returned this afternoon again, so I picked up and took to local wildlife rescue center. It is a girl, weighed at 460g but they said as it is juvenile and seen out in daylight, may have worms and wouldnt survive winter without proper care.
Thanks to this post thread and chat I hope we have done a small step to one more hedgehog to be around us..
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