oops excuse the caps!
we came across a dead baby hedgehog onsite,rather sadly grotesque with his little feet eaten off and his tongue hanging out......then two days later,another,this time just a pelt,ie just the spines,no sign of any body.any idea whats happened to the little ones,esp the one that only remained as a pelt?we are thinking pellets?
My first thougt was attacked by a fox, but would they get past all those spines?
I did a google, and yes, it may be a fox, but badgers are a bigger threat.
Here is nice page I get that from...
http://www.hedghogz.co.uk/hedgehogs/hazards.php (http://www.hedghogz.co.uk/hedgehogs/hazards.php)
It's a bit of a shame to lose them, I have not seen a hhog in years, but would love it if they visited my plot.
we found a young hog on our lawn in the summer in a similar condition and attributed it to the young foxes which were born behind our shed in the spring. it was a sad sight indeed. but...it is the first sign of hedgehogs in the garden for a year or two and i have since seen evidence of others too.
thanks for replying folks. i shuld add we found an alive one,wandering around in the day time,presumably out of bed at that time of day as he was hungry? he let us hand feed him some worms! we re homed a pair of hogs from a rescue centre earlier this year,so are hoping these are the result of them breeding,apart from the fact that 2 have snuffed it that is.
foxes regularly turn them inside out for a meal. Foxes are cute, but have no predators in the UK. As their numbers rise, there will be a steady decline in other small mammals. :(