When do hedgehogs breed?
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I have two/three hedgehogs visiting my feeding box every night. Sometimes there are two in together, occasionally they get on, other times they argue over the food. Is this usual behavior and will they be living nearby?
Hi grannysmith
The main breeding time is May and June with most hoglets being born in June and July. But whilst it used to be considered that the breeding time was April to September, really it could happen any time when there are male and female hogs around. So that these days when some hogs don’t hibernate, it’s possible breeding could take place earlier than April and later than September. Hence there are often hoglets born very late in the year, which do not have time to grow large enough to survive hibernation – leading to some hoglets needing help to get through the winter.
Males, in particular tend to be quite intolerant of other males, so it may be that sometimes there are two males visiting your feeding box. It isn’t necessarily that they are arguing over the food, some just don’t like other males in their personal space, wherever they happen to be. But hogs are more likely to cross paths in feeding areas, so altercations are more likely to happen there. But it’s quite normal for them to biff and roll up other male hogs. It sometimes looks a bit alarming, but the rolled up hog usually eventually unrolls and carries on where it left off.
The hedgehogs visiting you could be living nearby, but the males can travel up to 2 miles a night, although there’s probably a bit of backwards and forwards involved in that. But they could live quite a way away. Hogs don’t have territories, they have ranges, which overlap.
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