When do hedgehogs slow down or hibernate
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Until around 2 weeks ago I was getting upto 6 hedgehogs in my garden, I have 1 permanently resident, another semi resident and 4 totally visitors each night.
My full time resident (Pancake) is huge and a real bully. I was regularly watching Pancake turn other hogs into footballs and sometimes they were being kicked all over the garden.
A couple he would leave alone, I guess they are females.Anyway over the last 2 weeks, the visits have dwindled and for the last 2 nights its just been Pancake here on their own. (Tonight I did see 1 that was ran over 2 roads away, around 200 meters away) I am really hoping it was not my other semi resident.
Pancake, doesnt much care for brambles hedgehog food, or any of the dry kitten biscuits but does woof down the wet kitten foods.
Over the summer, Pancake would wake up just as it got dark, get his breakfast and was gone. he would then come back around midnight for a 2nd feed and would be gone again until almost dawn.
Now tho, Pancake comes out, has his food a little wander around then goes back to bed for a couple of hours, then will do the same again twice more each night.
At most he stays out 30-40 minutes each time, sometimes Pancake does start to head out then turns back and decides to go back to bed.
Pancake is still very much alert and doesnt hang about when wandering around and the poops dont look off or anything. So I am wondering why Pancake isnt leaving each night anymore and why the vistors have dwindled off. Are they slowing down because the weather is colder and would they be preparing to start hibernating yet ?Hi
Pancake could well be a female. They can get very large and tend to have a home base and is probably slowing down in preparation for hibernation. Females can be incredible bullies where food is concerned too.
As the normal hog food starts to dwindle Pancake will know that you are the best source of food and is probably just not bothering looking further and may well be looking toward hibernation. Hogs do not need to hibernate so it may be that Pancake won’t while the food keeps coming. You’ve not said if Pancake is building a better nest ( hiberniculum ) or even a birthing nest as if she is female she could also be pregnant and that’s the reason for slowing down.
All hogs will be starting to look toward Winter at this point and the males tend to go into hibernation first as they’ve had more time to put on the weight after breeding season, although this isn’t set in stone
If you’re worried you could send a sample of the poo to Vale Wildlife Hospital for testing, or ask your local carer if they offer this service.
Hope this helpsI wouldnt say pancake is building a better nest, they are in one of the houses I built and i ram them full of cut up barley straw with a largish pot of straw next to the house. The pot is untouched.
The other semi resident was actually staying in a bag half full on concrete stone which I didnt get chance to move before i spotted them in it and that is pretty close to another house i made.
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