Can Hedgehogs predict the weather ?
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Our guest hedgehog (who we have named Helga) is doing very well.
She spent quite some time stuffing (literally) the hut we bought her with hay, and makes regular trips in and out of the garden to snack on the food we put out and have a drink.
But one thing we have noticed over the past couple of weeks, is that Helga has been sleeping out somewhere during the daytime, and only occasionally sleeping in the hut.
The days she sleeps out are generally warm and sunny, so this leads me to believe that hedgehogs are able to identify what the daytime weather is likely to be like.
Last night was a prime example. She spent yesterday in the hut (it was cloudy and a bit wet to start with) but footage from last night shows that she wandered out after 5am, and did not return.
Today, is warm and sunny, so she knew what the weather was going to be like today….
So either hogs can tell the weather, or, maybe they have a direct line to the meteorological office. I’m pretty sure she hasn’t put a tv in the hut, though she could be checking the forecast on the net I guess, the hut is in range of our wifi….
Hi IvanB
I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the hogs can interpret the weather better than we can. But the other possibility is that she may have another nest elsewhere. But also they don’t tend to build such elaborate nests for the Summer – it’s mostly for giving birth and hibernation. So it may be that she is planning on using that nest for hibernation.
I had a young hog one year who built a very elaborate nest (suitable for hibernation) but decided not to hibernate and used the nest some days, but not all, for over-day stays. He visited every night, but obviously had another nest elsewhere where he spent the other days.
Hello IvanB, I also have a sneaking suspicion that the hedgehogs know more about the weather than we do. I have four hog houses and 2 feeder stations. I also have two blink cameras and 2 larger trail cameras.
I ususally have about 20 odd videos from the Blink cameras, and more than a few when I put the big cameras out. I believe that we have had at least 5 or 6 regular visitors over summer and autumn.
However in the past three weeks our visitors seem to have gone elsewhere. One female hog has decided to stay in one of the houses. In the past 10 days she has been taking mouthfuls of leaves into the house each night (although it has straw in it). She comes out at night then goes back to bed in the house in the morning. The past couple of nights she has popped out for an hour or so then come back to go to bed.
I live in Cornwall where our hogs hibernate later than elsewhere – can it be possible that our disappearing hogs and our resident hog have decided that it is better to hibernate now? Why should that be? hogdevotee
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