has Huffy stopped huffing or is it a different hedgehog?
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Well date night wasn’t successful for Huffy, as I’ve just seen him again, but with no female friend – so now I’m wondering, could Huffy actually be female – do females also biff each other sometimes? but obviously not as much as males? As why would Huffy allow another hedgehog to eat beside him?
I just opened my front door just now, and he wasn’t huffing, but when he saw me he started huffing, so obviously it’s his annoyance of seeing me.
He hasn’t a clue that all this delicious food, which he obviously loves as he’s constantly in and out of the feeding station, has come from me. They must just think it appears by magic.
The female in my garden (Patches) seems to be the one that does all the biffing, mostly towards other males, especially if they come near the feeding station when she’s in it.
The only way I could identify that she was a female was through playback on the trail cam. When the hedgehogs scratch you can clearly see if they have male bits or not!
The trail cam has also really helped identify all the others that visit. They all seem to have different colouring on the faces, ears and spines that only shows up on the infrared camera. Some are fluffier than others or have different looking tails. I have kept a notebook with simple drawings of their facial and body differences, so I can identify who is visiting every night.I’m getting a camera next week for my birthday, but not sure if high quality camera, I don’t think so, I ordered it from amazon and wasn’t very expensive.
Someone has been in the hedgehog house again, but I watch each hedgehog leave the feeding station, and none of them go in the house – so the first thing I’ll do is put the camera in a plant pot faced towards the house, and see who’s going in there.
I put dried leaves on top of the straw, and I can tell if someone’s been in each night, because some of the leaves have been dragged out into the tunnel, and the leaves keep moving around each morning I check. If I didn’t put so much straw in, I would probably be able to see inside, but because I wanted to give them as much warmth as possible, the straw is blocking my view, so I can only go by what’s happening in the tunnel.
At least if Huffy turns out to be female, I won’t have to change his name.
I’m really rubbish at drawing – but I’ll give it a go – it sounds like a really good idea, certainly better then marking them with paint.
My drawings aren’t amazing, just a rough outline. As long as you know what you are drawing or trying to represent that’s all that matters!
My camera wasn’t too expensive either. It’s the 2019 Crenova one on amazon which was about £60 I think. I point it at the feeding station, about 2-3 feet away, which is perfect to see the bums and faces of the different hogs going in and help with identifying. I warn you though, you will become seriously obsessed with seeing that footage every day, and seeing what the hoggies have been up to!
You are lucky if you do have a resident in your hedgehog house. I don’t think one has taken up residence in mine yet but it’s only been there a couple of weeks. Fingers crossed you get some footage and can see if it’s Huffy.Hi Hedgie Lover
I’ve finally got round to reviving my notes on natural identification – on Champions Chat. It’s quite a while since I first wrote them so some of the newer people on the forum may not have seen them. It is possible to identify hogs from either observation in real time yourself or via camera. They might look slightly different from one to the other, though – mainly due to most cameras being infra-red – less intrusive to the hogs and other wildlife – so you see them in black and white. But if you are watching at the same time the camera is going, you will know it’s the same hog.
Good luck with the camera! Sometimes it’s a bit of trial and error getting the right angle so that there isn’t too much glare (which sometimes varies from one camera to another), but once that’s sorted out they’re great.
Seems like you have been doing something similar re. identification, Sam1404. Glad to hear it!
I’m absolutely over the moon tonight, I’ve just seen Huffy go into the hedgehog home, so it’s Huffy that’s the resident in there.
I couldn’t be more happier.
I’m a bit concerned about another hedgehog though, as all the hedgehogs scuttle away when they have finished in the feeding station, but this one didn’t. It came out had a drink and then scrathing it’s head, went back in again, came out, had another drink, scratched it’s head, went back in again, even more food, and then it came out for good, but it kept scratching and scratching and scratching. It only walked a few inches, then scratching, another few inches, more scratching. It took about 10minutes for it to disappear from my sight.
What I will do, I’ll ring the hedgehog hospital tmrw (couldn’t get through the other day) and tell them, and then if I see it again, I’ll pick it up and put it in a box to take to the hospital. I’ll prepare the box tmrw and put a towel in it, and get a dish ready for water.
At least it’s eating and drinking, but so worried about the level of scratching and the fact it was moving slowly. Very worrying.
Thank you for those identification tips Nic, I read them in the other post and it will really help with spotting more subtle differences in similar looking Hogs.
Hedgie Lover I have similar concerns about one of my regular hogs that seems to scratch constantly, nearly every few inches. I asked in the carers part of the forum (‘itchy and scratchy hog’ thread) and was told it is a common thing, but to be on the lookout for fly strike or signs of distress. My hog doesn’t seem distressed and is eating, drinking and foraging around the garden just fine.
I keep the feeding station clean to ensure minimal transmission of parasites which can help.
The poorly hedgehog has just visited, I’m trying to get through to two different hedgehog hospitals but can never get through – I’ve got a box out, put a towel in it and found two small dishes – if it comes back tonight I’m gonna have to try pick her up with gardening gloves – and will probably have to keep her in the box indoors until tmrw morning. That’s if she comes back tonight – if not it will have to tmrw night.
I’m worried about picking them up, how do you do it?
Also there was a fox that appeared, and was fairly near, so I made a noise and it disappeared from sight, I went up right close to the hedgehog, thinking it would curl into a ball so I could pick her up – but she didn’t curl up she just looked at me, and then walked off, but I couldn’t follow her as she went under the school fence – I have no way of getting in as they have big locked fences.
I wish I had picked her up sooner, rather than just watching her eat – I’m so nervous about it – but I’m gonna have to do it.
It was weird how she wasn’t scared of me, but I’m worried she won’t run off when the fox sees her.
At least I can recognise her – compared to how Huffy is, and what she is like, Huffy seems to be fit and healthy.
I’m really annoyed with myself for not picking her up – now the fox might get her – drats!
Don’t worry, maybe she will come back tonight. Could you see anything noticeable when you approached that was a sign of anything wrong? (Ticks/mites/maggots). If she is really poorly she may be seen during the day as well.
Best to keep trying the wildlife hospital or the BHPS for advice (think their number is at the top of the carers forum page).
All the best – keep us posted.a hedgehog hospital rang me this morning – and they said to pick her up tonight, bring her in and keep her in a box with food and water – and they will come and pick her up on Sunday morning.
I can’t see anything, but I’ll probably get a better look when I see her inside – she is constantly scratching and falling over when she scratches – but she walks slowly rather run about like all the other hedgehogs – and she makes sounds that sound like sneezing but it might be coughing.
She’s definitely not right – I also told them about Huffy constantly huffing, but they weren’t concerned about that – Huffy appears to be fit and active, doing normal hedgehog things. But unfortunately he was turfed out of his hedgehog house last night by a big hedgehog called Klepto, poor boy.
Fingers crossed she comes back tonight. Patches scratches a lot but she doesn’t sneeze/cough so maybe your hog does need some TLC with the hospital for a few nights.
Make sure the box you put her in has high sides – hedgehogs are quite good climbers!Hi Hedgie Lover
re. picking the hog up. Just scoop it up with one hand either side (wearing a pair of gloves – those prickles are really sharp, especially if they curl up or make the spines stick up) and if possible have something to put it straight into. It’s actually quite stressful for hogs to be handled, so minimum disturbance is best. i.e. scoop it up and straight into a box with something in it where the hog can hide. If you have a cat carrier, by any chance they are ideal. As Sam1404 said, hogs are great escapologists. Alternatively make sure the top of the box stays closed. I used to cut some ventilation holes high in the sides. But I gave up using boxes after one particular hog managed to get out despite the lid being closed. Now I always use an old cat carrying basket which I still have from when I had a cat and which is ideal.
The hog may not have been scared of you because it was unwell. It isn’t possible to tell by just looking at them. Being wild animals, they do their utmost to look normal to predators, so have to be really unwell before they allow it to show.
Fingers crossed it returns tonight. But remember you can only do what you can do. It’s also possible that someone else may have rescued the same hog. Good luck.
Hopefully she will come back – I have a storage box with high sides, that will have to do, It would have been better to have a cat carrier though.
Because she wasn’t scared, it might be easier for the hedgehog hospital to look after, perhaps she wants to be looked after and get better.
Why do hedgehogs walk slowly rather than scuttle about like they usually do? Could it be old age, or just being very unwell?
I hope that fox didn’t get her. If I didn’t come close to her last night, and shoo away the fox, the fox would have had her no doubt. Thankfully, as she stopped to have a look at me, it gave a few seconds for the fox to disappear, that might have just saved her – but the fox might have come back.
If I don’t see her tonight, I’m gonna think the fox has got her. I’m gonna have to check outside every 15mins tonight so I don’t miss her.
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