I’m new to hedgehog street and need some advice

[Hettihog]

I’ve currently got a female hedgehog visiting my garden every night and I’m pretty sure she will have hoglets in her nest if the frenzied mating about a month ago is anything to go by. I’ve been watching her each night around 10.30pm and you can pretty much set your watch by her.
So I have invested in a hoggie home hoping one of her young ( if not her) will take up residence .
I’ve been putting jellied dog food and hog food out for some weeks with water. But thought the ideas on hedgehog street for feeding stations to stop the cats was a great idea, so for the last two nights the food has been placed in a hog friendly under bed storage box. She didn’t turn up at her usual time last night, although this morning it was evident that something had been in to feed. Tonight I was hoping for confirmation that it was my little friend and stayed out until 11.00pm . She turned up at her normal time, had a drink and went to the entrance of the feeding station, but didn’t go in and disappeared. Should I persevere with the feeding station or go back to just hiding the dishes in the undergrowth? Have I confused her usual routine?
Any advice very much appreciated.

[Annker]

Hi, there are better people than me on this forum, but I would suggest you keep at it with the feeding station. It may take a few day for her to give it a try. It’s new so a bit suspicious of it. You could try a bit outside near to the box. We have a lot of no shows at the moment and looking on the cctv Benny, who was coming every night, is now every other night. He also has gone down to one visit a night and last night came at 2-58 am. The rain seems to have given them lots of tasty things to eat. Perhaps put the preferred food in the box and less preferred just outside. She will smell the food and I’m sure will use your box. I put a pic up of my box with 2 hogs in and it showed two bricks in place to stop cats. Doesn’t work for small cats or kittens, but Nic had ideas on that one. Happy Hoggin

[Hettihog]

Hey Annker
Thanks for your response, I will persevere and try putting a bit outside as you suggest.
Last night I thought maybe hog would return later in the night, but no such luck – just one cat footprint! looks like the cat tried but failed to pull the food forward.
I need a wildlife cam so I know what’s happening. Any tips on good ones to get without robbing a bank ? lol.

[Annker]

Hi Hettihog, I actually use a cctv inside unit and have a light outside with pir, or is it pri, on the light. However, I have bought a trail camera off ebay quite cheap, if you troll through them. I have not tried it yet as haven’t wrapped my brain round it! I needed to buy a micro sd card as well. It came with a USB cable and a small memory stick (or similar). It’s done nothing but rain and I need to try it ASAP. I suspect it will run out quickly of either battery power or film capacity as it has been mention on this sight about batteries before. Mine takes 4 AA, some take 2. Have a look on the internet, best wishes.

[Nic]

Hi Hettihog

I agree with Annker about putting some of the food nearer to the feeding station to start with. The hog may have been looking in the normal place and found nothing there.

However, I have found, over the years that there are certain hogs who just don’t like going into boxes. As well as the boxes, I have a perspex type sheet balanced on 3 litre flower pots, with bricks on top, to deter the cats. This arrangement seems to be acceptable to those hogs who prefer to eat out of doors. Despite the pots they still have multiple escape routes.

Having said that, I had a non-hibernator this past winter who didn’t like boxes, but I managed to persuade it to go into a box by gradually moving the food nearer and nearer each day and then into the opening corridor, etc. This was a bit of a necessity at the time as I was trying to outwit a persistent cat and a rat and try to make sure the hog got sufficient of the food. I would normally cater for them eating outside if that is what they prefer. But I would give your feeding station a bit more of a chance, if I were you – moving some of the food gradually closer.

P.S. not quite sure what you meant by the frenzied mating – if you mean the lengthy courtship circling and huffing, it doesn’t always lead to mating. But the gestation period is about four and a half weeks. You might be lucky.

[Nic]

P.P.S. A cheap alternative to a camera is a footprint tunnel. Never used one myself, but they sound quite fun.
https://www.hedgehogstreet.org/footprint-tunnels/

[Hettihog]

Thank you all for the benefit of your experience. I’ve always been an eager nature conservationist, but it’s only now that I have retired and have more time and I’ve become a bit of a fanatic – my hubby thinks I’ve lost the plot! Lol.
I’m lucky enough to have fields behind the house so I’m use to all sorts of wildlife visiting, but I’ve never used a camera or trail tracker, but I’m excited to try them out! Hubby is going think I’m mad when I suggest a camera for my birthday instead of perfume ! I will keep you posted! Thanks again x

[Nic]

Hi Hettihog

Cameras are much more fun than perfume! Especially if you have other wildlife visiting as well. Endless entertainment!

I went down the cheap camera route to start with, but found they weren’t very reliable. I eventually got a Bushnell – but one of the cheaper ones of the range. It was more expensive than many, but the picture is much better than my cheaper one, it seems more reliable and seems less likely to miss things – even picks up the little mice which sometimes visit. (some of them are quicker at starting the next image/video than others). If I was getting another, I would get another Bushnell. The only thing I would do differently if I had the chance would be to get a wider angle lens. So that there was a larger area visible in the frame.

Having said that some people have been lucky and found some cheaper ones which they have found worked for them.

I wouldn’t get a camera that only had only 2 AA batteries – I just don’t think they would last long enough. I use 8 AA batteries in both of mine. They recommend not using rechargeable ones, but I do because the ordinary ones just ran out too quickly. For my Bushnell they are recharged daily, but that is aimed at the feeding area – which gets the most action – including cats and mice – usually not at the same time!

Good luck and happy hog watching.

[Annker]

Hi Hettihog, lol, you sound like me with my hubby. Today I’ve got him to remove a load of stones from a square in the lawn, then remove a ground cover and he’s shattered! I did help, but we both needed our emergency inhalers! I’ve told him it’s much easier to remove weeds from earth than stones on ground cover, (I just hope the hogs will enjoy digging in the soil) but not mentioned that! I came in and looked out of the window to see the birds already landed and pecking at the soil. I’m also running out with sugar water to save the whitetail bees. I won’t tell the story of the hen and cockerel I swooped on to save, but I can always bring up the bat that hubby once brought home in a card board box. We had to wait till a certain time and take it from where it came from, he had to dangle it from his finger whilst it shivered to get body heat up, then, as a train went by its little head shot round and off it went. But, it was I who had to carry it in a box on my knee and believe me, I won’t forget that. Good luck

[Hettihog]

Hey Nic, thanks for that info about your camera, very helpful and it makes decision making so much easier when a recommendation has been received. I will definitely get on it! And your so right about the perfume, I will have so much more fun tracking the visitors to my garden. And it’s a gr at the at if getting the rest of my family involved.
Annker, you sound like my kind of woman, my hubby thinks I’m crazy when I feed worn out bees sugared water and we once had a bit of a domestic lol, when I insisted on taking an injured hog to the vet . After receiving antibiotics the Vets instruction was to take it home and bathe it’s leg 3x a day for a week to nurse it back to health – guess it’s a bit bad when your husband plays second fiddle to a hog lol.

[Hettihog]

PS Nic that typo should say it a great way of getting the rest of the family involved. Thanks for info!

[Leon Roskilly]

I’ve 3 feeding-stations around my garden.

I place a straw across the entrance that gets knocked out of the way when a hedgehog enters.

I’ve also got a trail-cam which is sometimes used to check up on the hedgehogs, and sometimes to see what is going on with my fox visitors.

So, I have a fairly good idea of what is going on in the garden when I’m in bed.

Over the last few weeks the hedgehogs are feeding much less on the tinned cat food in jelly. (Having reduced the amount I put out in response, I also offer a dish of hedgehog biscuits and another of cat biscuits so they have food if their appetite returns, but I find they usually ignore dried food in my garden).

One feeding-station also stopped having customers altogether for a few days when a hedgehog I’d been seeing regularly disappeared (I knew where she was living), along with another visitor to that station I also haven’t seen for a while.

But I now seem to have another visiting that station.

I had the trail-cam there to check on who was dropping in the night before last. The hog went in about midnight, checked out the 3 dishes on offer and exited without eating. I’m thinking they are now finding plenty of tasty beetles etc in the garden (which I manage mainly to attract insects and other wildlife), and therefore in no need of very much supplementary feeding.

Just under 3 hours later and another hedgehog (could have been the same one) went in and polished off the wet cat-food.

So, it’s all gone a bit unpredictable lately with familiar hogs gone missing, less food being taken, but still plenty of hog-activity in the garden. I’m assuming it is all connected with babies, territorial exploration, abundant natural food now, and the weather generally (I’m in Kent).

[Hettihog]

Hi Leon Roskilly
Sounds like a good idea putting straw against the opening of the feeding station. Hog came last night but nothing was going to tempt her to enter the box.
Ive decided to use Nics idea of Perspex on plant pots – think I may just have one of those hogs that needs the security of a quick escape if needed.
Hog looks fine and is obviously eating well, if the dropping are anything to go by.
Its great to hear what other hog fans are doing, so thanks .

[Author]

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