Woken up

[Leon Roskilly]

After weeks of no signs of any hedgehog activity in the garden and following one of the coldest nights so far, I was surprised during my daily checks to find the straw indicator across the entrance to one of the 3 hog-houses showing something had entered.

Or was it just the wind?

I checked the nearby feeding station and that indicator had also been triggered. Inside half the cat biscuits had been eaten and some of the hedgehog food.

I checked the other two houses and they too had also had their straw indicators triggered, (but the other feeding station on the other side of the garden was untouched).

Slightly puzzled as to why all hogs had seemingly gone out after weeks asleep on the same cold night (I wonder if one woke up and went knocking? :).

But a little relieved that they are showing some signs, having ‘disappeared’ seemingly a bit early when still quite mild.

(I tend to the theory that being well-fed and with the nights closing in, and comfortable sleeping quarters available, well why not snuggle up now).

[Nic]

All I can say is that hogs are known to sometimes wake up during hibernation and move and even build new nests. So it is possible that a hog awoke. I am assuming you don’t have cameras on the boxes in which case it needn’t have been a hog that triggered the straw indicators. A cat or even a rat could have disturbed them. But also, another hedgehog could have visited if, for instance, their usual food source had ceased. All sorts of perfectly feasible possibilities.

I wouldn’t worry about them disappearing too early. The adult males tend to disappear a fair bit earlier than the females, but then tend to return earlier too.

[Leon Roskilly]

Towards the end of September my hedgehogs disappeared and the straws across the entrances to the hog-houses and feeding-stations remained in place.

Over the last few weeks straws have been moved and some of the dried cat food that I leave in the feeding-stations at this time of year has been eaten.
But I’ve not managed to catch them on the trail-cam to be certain that it is the hedgies coming and going.

They stay in for a few days and nights and only venture forth occasionally.
So inevitably if I set up the trail-cam they stay in, and when I don’t put out the trail-cam the straws get moved.

Finally I caught one nipping into the feeding station tonight 🙂

She came out of the hoghouse a couple of metres to the left of the feeding station (the straw had been knocked out).

So far the straws on the other 2 hog-houses remain undisturbed, but being a mild and dryish night I expect that will change.

Here’s the videos.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/17vl1D5dr08AWHPnhznTxEIpY9JCGk4hZ/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1o3rXs_aan8W4V7yS5IyeW6GTq3UPU6Ul/view?usp=sharing

[Nic]

Sounds fairly typical hog to come out when the cameras aren’t there and vice versa!

There is a another possibility as to why the straws are moved. The hog here who didn’t hibernate last year, made himself a lovely nest but mostly only used it for naps (or possibly warm ups!) when he visited for food. So it doesn’t necessarily mean there is a hog in there the rest of the time. You know hogs – they like to keep us guessing and best not to try to second guess them!

I would just leave your camera out all the time. You never know what you might see, even if the hogs are hibernating.

[Author]

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