Hedgehogs return

[pumkinlover]

 

Was talking to  a friend on Monday when I said we never expected to see one as been over twenty years.
That night was walking down the garden when something moved- yay!! a hedgy. Last night was walking up the garden when I heard snuffle snuffle crunch crunch!! and there he/she was having supper

[pumkinlover]

[squeezyjohn]

We heard our first hedgehog in 8 years in the front garden a few weeks ago ... but we live next to a main road - and sadly there's been no more snuffling since we saw a splatted hedgehog nearby last weekend.

They really need corridors of safe undergrowth to spread ... and the only wild area is across the road from us but most people round our way are so obsessed with patios, gravel drives, fences and removing anything that looks remotely like wildlife from their gardens (grrr!) that I fear we'll never get them establishing on our side of the road so they don't feel they have to cross it all the time.

However - it's heartening that people are seeing them more this year.  They must be loving all the slugs and snails there are about at the moment.

[Spireite]

I saw my first hedgehog in our town, since moving here 3 years ago driving home late from my inlaws 2 weeks ago.   Our town turns the streetlamps off at midnight and as I exited their estate we saw 2 crossing (quite quickly) the road.  I slowed down and watched them.

Then 2 nights ago I turned the outside light on to the back garden to bring in the washing, when there was a quick scurry into my largest (rather overgrown) flowerbed, the first time I've seen one in our garden    I'm sure I heard a snuffling in there yesterday too. 

We have an overgrown public footpath running along the bottom of our garden so I'm sure it could get through there, plus there is a  2 inch gap between fence posts between my neighbour one side (behind the hedge), and a privet hedge on our other side.  Our new fence has lateral lats with a gap under at the bottom closer to the house too, so hope fully lots of access for them.

[gazza1960]

It is such a buzz to have moved to Dorset as previously in Middlesex nearly all our neighbours had removed their front hedges
to make space for bricked driveways so the natural hiding places for our little spiky friends were disappearing fast in my concrete jungle,now were here in the "country" ive seen a few chancing it across the roads in the early hours when im returning from fishing.

Its so nice to see them ,and yes,there are a few flattened ones along with foxes and Badgers which is sad,but Jude has heard a few
in our back garden in the evening so maybe ill have to get some kitty food for em  !!!!!!!!!!

Gazza

[Silverleaf]

Oh, hedgehogs! I used to rescue and rehabilitate the little prickly guys and I love them.

I recommend feeding them meat-flavoured cat food (dry or in jelly, not gravy), cooked chicken chopped up (leg rather than breast, with skin), little bits of cheese, scrambled egg, and chopped peanuts. And water, especially in dry weather. You can set up your feeding station so cats and foxes can't steal the food.

If you see any of the following, the hedgehog needs help.
* Out in the daytime.
* Obvious injury.
* Low weight in autumn - they should look like a fat round ball when curled up, not an oval one, and at least 700g in weight.

[galina]

Oh, hedgehogs! I used to rescue and rehabilitate the little prickly guys and I love them.

I recommend feeding them meat-flavoured cat food (dry or in jelly, not gravy), cooked chicken chopped up (leg rather than breast, with skin), little bits of cheese, scrambled egg, and chopped peanuts. And water, especially in dry weather. You can set up your feeding station so cats and foxes can't steal the food.

If you see any of the following, the hedgehog needs help.
* Out in the daytime.
* Obvious injury.
* Low weight in autumn - they should look like a fat round ball when curled up, not an oval one, and at least 700g in weight.

Silverleaf,  Thank you for that very useful reminder.

When our hedgehog that had been in the garden for years came out in broad daylight, daughter took it to the vets and it did not make it.  However it was huge and died because apparently it was very old.  Sadly there haven't been any more.  It always had been a solitary hedgehog.  What is the lifespan of hedgehogs?

Pumpkinlover,  that's super news.   
 

[Jayb]

Was talking to  a friend on Monday when I said we never expected to see one as been over twenty years.
That night was walking down the garden when something moved- yay!! a hedgy. Last night was walking up the garden when I heard snuffle snuffle crunch crunch!! and there he/she was having supper

Fantastic

We used to get quite a few here, but sadly the last 8-10 years none.

[Silverleaf]

Hedgehogs can live for 10 years, but I think the average is about 3. Many die of starvation and if they aren't fat enough when they hibernate they don't survive the waking-up process. Our modern no-work concrete/gravel gardens full of poisonous chemicals aren't very good for them, unfortunately.

Oh and I forgot, absolutely no milk! They do like it but it upsets their stomachs which can be severe and fatal.

I also forgot to remind people to make escape routes from ponds (a shallow edge or some other way for a thirsty hedgehog to climb out if it falls in), check compost/manure heaps before you stick a fork in, rebuild bonfires just before you light them in case a hedgehog's decided it looks like a nice winter bed, and be extremely careful to search thoroughly before using strimmers. I've seen hideous strimmer injuries, unfortunately.

[pumkinlover]

How do I make a feeding station which doesn't let cats and foxes? I'm not too keen to feed either as one kills birds and the other killed my chickens!
I even brought slugs and snails back from the plotment yesterday for Snuffles!!

[Ellen K]

No hedgehogs in my garden for a few years now, sadly.

Seeing their poo on the lawn for the first time each spring was always a joy.

[telboy]

Heard one yesterday coughing away. Lung worm I expect. Not a lot can be done - very sad.

[Silverleaf]

They get lungworms (and other parasites) from slugs. They don't even like slugs and snails much and will only eat them if they are really hungry and there's nothing else. Beetles and earthworms are their favourites, although they eat a variety of different foods.

I haven't dealt with lungworms myself, but pretty much every hog I've ever nursed had a heavy load of intestinal parasites (sick hedgehogs can't control them as well) and needed treating with Panacur paste meant for kittens/puppies. The trick is to get the numbers down but not eradicate the internal parasites completely - a completely "clean" hog will get overwhelmed by the rapid reinfestation that happens when they are released.

I removed external parasites with extreme prejudice though. A healthy hog can cope with a few fleas and ticks, but a sick one doesn't need that burden. And again sick hogs tend to have far more ticks than heathy ones, horrible little bloodsucking gits.

PL, some good ideas for feeding stations here. http://thehedgehog.co.uk/feeding-hedgehogs/how-to-stop-cats-dogs-and-foxes-stealing-the-hedgehogs-food/ Even something simple like a board lifted up on bricks with a few more bricks on top to weigh it down can work.

[pumkinlover]

Thanks for that SL. Back to the boot then for the snails and slugs. will make a feeding station.