feel really sad, Huffy has been made homeless

[Hedgie Lover]

I have just seen Huffy outside of the hedgehog home, he was very quiet, not huffing today. I didn’t realise it was him. Then I saw a massive hedgehog in the feeding station, and I wondered if there had been some biffing going on, as Huffy cautiously went towards the feeding station, usually he’s dashing about – and then the big hedgehog saw him and started to biff him.

Then Huffy got some food, so I thought all is well, then Huffy went back to the hedgehog home and just had his nose in the entrance, then the big hedgehog came out of the home and gave him more biffs before the big hedgehog went back in the home. Currently poor Huffy is curled up in a ball just outside of the home.

It was his home, it’s so not fair. Thankfully Huffy is a new tenant and so he will have a home elsewhere I hope, but I feel so upset for him. He did make his own nest a while ago, but I feel it’s too near the hedgehog house for him to want to live in there.

Oh well, the big hedgehog might not stay for too long, I’ve got a feeling the big one is a male, and I suspect Huffy might be male also, as surely a male hog wouldn’t want to biff a female hog? or would they is some circumstances?

Poor Huffy – he must have spent ages making a nest, getting it just right – I wish I had another hedgehog home so he could go in there.

Is it normal for hedgehogs to fight over homes? I didn’t think they were territorial, that’s what all the wildlife sites say, perhaps they have got it wrong?

[Hedgie Lover]

I think I’m gonna call the big hedgehog Klepto (after Kleptomania), and the poorly hedgehog Chloe, because I thought she should have a nice name, I doubt she’s gonna live very long though.

So far I can only recognise Chloe and Huffy – but I’m working on it, when they are drinking water, which gives me more time to look at them, I can see that they are all different. Hopefully I should be able to recognise Klepto when I see him again, as I’ve never seen a hedgehog that big.

[Annker]

Hi, just read this post and yes, you are feeling sorry for Huffy and considering another home just for him. It is a shame when he went to so much trouble to make the home just how he wanted it. The awful suggestion is, you could evict the squatter! No wonder he’s not huffing anymore, cast out on the street so to speak. Have you a little wood pile like I have? Somewhere where you maybe able to lead him to shelter via food. I managed to put a sheet of plastic over mine weighed down with bricks, as was suggested to keep it dry. I think it’s probably another male as they seem to do the biffing, maybe a big brother or his father. I’ve noticed Kitty didn’t bother about the younger females in the feeding station, except they waited respectfully for her to finish eating before they had anything. Hope you can sort something temporary for Huffy as I can tell you are upset, best wishes.

[Nic]

Hi Hedgie Lover

Don’t be too worried. Very often male hedghogs change their nesting places quite often anyway. You definitely shouldn’t interfere – they will sort things out between themselves.

At this time of year hogs will often go into boxes for short naps between snacking, so it’s possible that Huffy wasn’t actually resident, in the box.

The biffing looks quite rough, but it doesn’t do them any harm. They have all those spines to cushion them. It seems likely that Huffy is a male. You are right males don’t normally biff the females. I would not normally rely on an isolated behaviour, but if you see several different episodes of typical male behaviour you can be fairly sure. Then if Huffy conveniently scratches in front of a camera, if he is a male he will have a ‘blob’ or larger, roughly mid-abdomen.

They probably weren’t fighting about the home, as such. It’s more that a more dominant male is likely to biff a less dominant one if it comes into his space. i.e. the space around him wherever he happens to be. It just happened to be the hog house on that occasion.

[Hedgie Lover]

The good thing is that’s it’s being used. I did have the home in a different part of my garden, I put it there when I first got it, but no hedgehogs came any where near it, so I moved it (which I know isn’t advisable) but I moved it knowing that it was never going to get used, that was exactly two weeks ago, and it took only a week for it to get used by Huffy, so I realise I’ve put it in a good position.

So I’m happy it’s getting used. Huffy will no doubt have various other summer nests – he made one in my garden a month ago, which he has stopped using for some reason, so I don’t think he will be homeless as such, but I just think the hedgehog home is more suitable for winter, so I’ll be pleased if a hedgehog hibernates there over winter.

[Author]

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