One hedgehog rolling another along

[Rob Clack]

I’ve got a trail camera, which last night filmed something I’ve not seen before – one hedgehog pushing another along, the second one having rolled itself up into a ball. Can anyone tell me what’s actually going on?

And can anyone tell me how to upload a file? I’ve put this clip on my personal website, but few people will have one of those.
Rob
Hedgehog rolling

[Nic]

Hi Rob Clack

Don’t worry, about the hog rolling. It’s quite normal hog behaviour. It will be 2 males. One is more submissive and rolls up, so the other just pushes him along. It’s better that way. If neither of them rolls up the fighting can become quite ferocious – but more often one rolls up. It looks a bit alarming, but all those spines cushion the one being pushed along and they normally unroll eventually and wander off as if nothing happened!

You can put your videos on Hedgehog Street YouTube https://www.hedgehogstreet.org/my-hedgehog-street/your-hedgehog-videos/

[Rob Clack]

Thanks, Nic. Good info.

[Bassman]

I nearly had this last night but the submissive male rolled up in a birdfood dish so the bully couldn’t get at him any further.
This has been happening a bit too often, they started coming at different times so they didn’t meet but now seem to overlap more. suppose one of them might eventually just move on elsewhere. The real action starts around 35 seconds in.

https://vimeo.com/530471804

[Wildlife Wonder]

Mine do that also.. other night a right rumpus at the feeding station . we have had 4 hibernate together in the 2 hog houses we made for them.. one small baby that was under weight as late-born last September and is now being beefed up at the rescue centre.

[hog devotee]

Lovely video Bassman – think lots of rolling each other to see which male is top of the tree come mating time (which is now). hog devotee

[Mrshoglet]

I have seen this also in my garden but seems normal so not concerned

[Nic]

Yes, it is quite normal for males to roll each other up. They have pretty much decided who is the dominant hog by that stage – the less dominant one just rolls up. If they aren’t quite sure, sometimes the one being pushed along tries to resist a bit i.e. doesn’t actually roll up but ‘digs his feet in’. But mostly they seem to know their place pretty well and the submissive one rolls up.

The more submissive ones probably just hope there aren’t any other males around when they meet a female! Which is quite possible as hogs are normally solitary animals. Humans are probably the cause of them meeting up more often than they otherwise would by creating feeding areas, where they might be likely to congregate a bit.

[Author]

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