Hedgehogs and Foxes

[Margaret]

Does anyone know do foxes predate on hedgehogs? I know badgers do but not sure about foxes?
Despite the mild weather our hogs appear to be deep in hibernation as we have seen no sign of them. However we recently became aware (having found a half buried dead pigeon in the garden) we have nightly visits from a very healthy looking fox. I put our wildlife camera out and he/she has appeared on it for the last three nights, even standing on his hind legs drinking from the birdbath!

[Nic]

Hi Margaret

Yes, unfortunately some foxes do predate on hedgehogs. You may see pictures of hedgehogs and foxes eating side by side. Personally, that isn’t something I would want to encourage. Apparently there is sometimes a fox who has become a bit of a specialist hedgehog predator. I believe they wait until the hedgehog unrolls and then pounce. So, you’ll appreciate that allowing the hedgehog to think it’s ok eating beside a fox is not really good news. I don’t think it’s a good idea to allow hedgehogs to become habituated to humans either, because whether we like it or not, humans are predators.

You may be lucky that the foxes aren’t interested, but if I had that situation, I would make a safe place for the hedgehogs to eat, which foxes couldn’t access – at least. It may be that the fox has changed it’s normal territory because of reduced food availability in the winter. So, with a bit of luck it might move on.

I have nothing at all against foxes – beautiful animals, too – but I think we need to be aware that there is a potential conflict with hedgehogs. I perceive that there could be situations where we are inadvertently encouraging hedgehogs to put themselves in danger. There are always pros and cons.

I hope the situation resolves itself. Good luck.

[Leon Roskilly]

I have both foxes and hedgehogs regularly visiting my garden at night and seem to happily co-exist (along with my three cats).

But I once had a fox dig a hibernating hedgehog out from under a hedge, which is one reason why I’ve installed some safe hibernation boxes around the garden.

[Scottiebear]

We have been feeding hogs and a visiting fox for couple of years. We have a feeding box for hogs but used to to leave a raw sausage out for the fox fox in a bird feeder tray. One night on camera we saw a hog sitting in the tray chewing the sausage. Along came fox and looked quizxsingly. At which point hog calmly sauntered off and fox grabbed sausage. Neither bothered by the other. Amusingly I went to plant a flower in an empty plant pot and found three sausages buried in it.

[Author]

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