Hedgehog returns and sounds like steam train
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After no sightings for a worrying number of nights the hedgehogs returned last night. We only ever see one hedgehog at a time on the camera but have been trying to decide whether we are seeing more than one, They might be different sizes (not sure) and when they were visiting very regularly we would get photos/videos at a number of different times throughout the night. Last night we got a number of pictures/videos and all the food was gone from the feeding station. My favourite video from last night doesn’t give a sighting but I can clearly hear the hedgehog ‘ steam train’ sound. This is the first time I have heard them do anything other than rattling the feeding dishes.
Yes that sounds great isn’t it, in my experience it’s made when there’s two hogs and they’re both interested in the same bowl of food. Why they can’t just share I don’t know, they usually end up biffing each other and knocking the whole lot over.
Hi JAHW
It’s not always easy to know exactly what people mean, i.e. when you say the hog sounds like a steam train. It depends what it’s doing when it sounds like a steam train. For instance, if it is just walking along on it’s own, or feeding on it’s own making a noise like a steam train, it could have a lung problem. But if it’s with another hog which is circling around it and it’s huffing rythmically, then it’s a female and that’s part of the ‘courtship’ and can go on for hours.
Unless you can immediately recognise, ie. that it’s courtship, I would ring your nearest carer in case the hog has a lung problem. Especially as you say you are normally seeing one hog at a time. You could then explain the sound in more detail. You can find details of your nearest carers from the BHPS on 01584 890801.
The sound I heard on the video was the one made when hedgehogs are circling each other in the mating season (I compared it with various websites/on-line hedgehog videos). Today my daughter told me she was woken at 4am by a hedgehog rattling the feeding dishes. The feeding station is below her bedroom window. She looked out and saw one hedgehog in the feeder and one circling around the outside of it. I’ll put the camera next to the feeding station tonight to give the best chance of getting a video and check out any sounds but I’m not too worried about the hedgehogs.
Hi JAHW
That’s good that it was when one hog was circling another. That will be the female huffing as she turns around whilst the male circles her. Fingers crossed for some hoglets later on then!
Re. the feeding bowls rattling – they sometimes tip them up to see if there’s anything underneath. But if they’re bowls like I use – straight sided – the hogs sometimes tip them up, standing on the rim. I’ve seen poor hogs ending up with food all over their faces when they’ve done that! But yes, can be quite noisy.
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