Where Have All The Hedgehogs Gone?

[Celeste]

Hi,
Newbie hedgehog person here! Always wanted hedgehogs in my garden so thrilled for the first time this year they have appeared 🙂
I know there is more than one because I have seen them individually snuffling happily about their business; from the big bruiser type down to a very small one.
They seemed to have settled to my plastic feeding station and happily crunch away in there even when being watched, and as I am a bungalow dweller I hear repeat visits through the night as well.
However, not one has touched the food for well over two weeks now. Is this usual behaviour? I could understand if one had been killed on road etc but for all to have disappeared? I would estimate there are probably about 5 regular visitors. It seems a little early for them to have gone into hibernation (North Yorkshire – no frost yet)
Would value your thoughts please. Thank you.

[Nic]

Hi Celeste

Welcome to the Forum!

Glad to hear that you have had hogs there and have been enjoying their visits. It’s possible that some of the hogs may have gone to hibernate already. What triggers hibernation isn’t fully understood and it isn’t only temperature related. The males tend to hibernate earlier than the females (they don’t have hoglet rearing duties to worry about so easier for them to put on weight more easily). They also tend to return earlier than the females.

But there are all sorts of other potential reasons why hogs ‘disappear’ and every year there are loads of people worrying about where they have all got to. They usually re-appear at some stage, but at this time of year, it may not be until after hibernation.

I would keep offering food for a while in case some return – but especially leave water out all day every day, including during winter.

Good luck.

[Celeste]

Thank you for your reassurance!
Fresh water is always available in a large ground bowl (birds and hedgehogs share) but will continue to put food out for a while yet.
I put a hedgehog home out in September but think they have turned their snuffly noses up at it!
And however heard of a male snoring away whilst a female did the work? 😉
Again thank you; your answer was most helpful

[BobsMum]

Hello Celeste!
I had 5 hogs. First, there were 4, then a youngish looking bully moved in and the 4 disappeared. Then the bully stayed away, too. Last sighting was the 4th of August. You can imagine that I am really, really worried for them. I just hope that they have found another safe place nearby and will return in spring – or maybe their young!
It’s my first year of monitoring the hogs with camera and feeding station etc. Therefore, I can’t tell if this behaviour has been normal over the last years. There’s always been a hog now and again… so let’s hope we both get our visitors back.
Keep your eyes open. Hogs might wake up during the winter and come out, looking for food. I will keep my feeding station stashed with small amounts each night – and hope for their return!

[Trophy Al]

I have a Camera trained on my Feeding Station and have been keeping a note of the comings and goings. Until mid August I had 2 regular visitors – often visiting to feed on 6 or more different occasions each night. Then towards the end of September one of them stopped visiting and I was upset to see a Hog that had been run over not far from where I live – I presume it was my missing visitor 🙁 Then, last week, the other Hog who had been visiting regularly 3 times a night, stopped the last early morning visit ( 06:00 ish ), and then stopped visiting altogether, with no visits for 5 days. I was quite worried that he had also been run over, but 2 nights ago he returned, just for one visit during the night, and the same again last night. They do roam a considerable distance during the night and may sleep in different places during the day, and this time of year when folks are tidying their gardens I wondered if one of the regular routes had become blocked up and it took a few days to find his way back.

[Nic]

Some hogs will be hibernating already. The adult males sometimes start hibernation as early as September. Females usually a bit later – they have to gain condition after having had their hoglets to feed, etc.

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