I was bought a Hedgehog House as a present for Christmas - I place the hogs food (mealworms, crushed peanuts and chicken kibble) on a plate under it every night. By morning, all the foods gone, and the Hogs leave me several little presents on my patio and in the Hog House. It is starting to get quite messy, especially with all the rain. If its dry, the mess is very easy to brush into borders, so I don't mind so much. Does anybody know how often they poop. I thought I only had two, maybe three hogs visiting on a nightly basis, but with all the poop, I am wondering if there are more. No doubt the regularity of the food will add to the volume.
And whilst I am here.....
I was watching a pair of hogs on my patio last night. One of them was sitting very still and was doing a lot of snuffling. The other one kept on trying to walk around the back of the one sitting still, but as soon as it did that, the snuffling increased to the point it seemed quite upset and then it turned to move its hind quarter away. Was I watching some kind of Hog courtship going on?
We have had hedgehogs visiting our garden for a couple of years now and have put dried hedgehog food on a saucer, only a couple of feet away from our conservatory door. We get a brilliant view of them when they arrive at dusk as, with their poor eyesight they cant see us, and we have seen some strange antics like you mention Tim. Certainly a lot of snuffling when there are 2 of them in the same area, a bit of a stand-off maybe, but it could be a courtship ritual. Once when 2 arrived at the saucer at the same time, the saucer (on gravel) was, believe it or not, up on end with a hedegehog on either side, snuffling!
I saw our resident/visiting hog early yesterday morning! My shriek of excitement meant it scuttled off rather quickly!
We've no holes at the bottom of our fences, but have an alleyway next to us, which is totally unkempt, that leads to open scrub/woodland behind us. I regularly find 'poo' along the route it must take- just about next to where I get out of my car after reversing it out of the garage!
Am hoping that the slug population will soon subside a bit....... J.
FloBear, are the rescue hogs you released into the secured garden unable to survive in the wild? I help at a hedgehog rescue and where possible all rescued hogs get released back into the wild by means of volunteer gardens. They are free to come and go as they like.
Obviously there are some hogs who due to health issues (amputated legs, blind etc) need to be released into an enclosed garden where they are provided with ample food and water and housing.
Hedgehogs ? I LOVE 'em ! but every year, I find one young hog in the middle of our patch of green oop t'lotty, looking lost and cold, during the day. My wife and I quickly take the hog off to our local resue centre, and hope for the best. They are usually with an intestinal worm infestation or hypothermia, being too vulnerable to daytime temperatures. 50% success rate so far, but unfortunately, they seem to give up very quickly. Regarding hedgehog 'homes' in the garden, all these store bought contraptions are quite emotional, and a money making industry, capitalizing on well meaning wildlife lovers. The simple solution is to make a rustic lean to covered with leaves, old cuttings and in a quiet spot, Old bramble canes with plenty of thorns will keep the worst of predators out, Keep it simple, and let common sense prevail. One does NOT have to spend £'s and £'s to protect or provide for wildlife ! Nature has been doing it for millions of years, until we came and buggered it all up !
Just found this forum after messing about with my i-pad to down load the FREE I-pad app for Gardener's World.Fabulous!Just a break from adding the compost to the flower beds ready to feed all the little creatures in the soil.I must say I fully agree with the last two garden (nature) lovers comments .We might not like the slimy ones but like it or not THEY do feed our other little creatures in the food chain ,Chris Packum(sorry Chris if I spelt your name wrong X) was absolutely right a few Gardeners World articles ago when he said everything has a place in the food chain-
I don't know what use lily-beetles or vine-weevils have though? but apart from them love em or hate them everything-else does!Even Otters!! who last year ate all my beautiful Koi. I now have little Canary goldfish-11 actually to make a football team-my football team O.T.B.C.
Posts
Hedgehogs have a great defence mechanism ;- )
This is true
And whilst I am here.....
I was watching a pair of hogs on my patio last night. One of them was sitting very still and was doing a lot of snuffling. The other one kept on trying to walk around the back of the one sitting still, but as soon as it did that, the snuffling increased to the point it seemed quite upset and then it turned to move its hind quarter away. Was I watching some kind of Hog courtship going on?
We have had hedgehogs visiting our garden for a couple of years now and have put dried hedgehog food on a saucer, only a couple of feet away from our conservatory door. We get a brilliant view of them when they arrive at dusk as, with their poor eyesight they cant see us, and we have seen some strange antics like you mention Tim. Certainly a lot of snuffling when there are 2 of them in the same area, a bit of a stand-off maybe, but it could be a courtship ritual. Once when 2 arrived at the saucer at the same time, the saucer (on gravel) was, believe it or not, up on end with a hedegehog on either side, snuffling!
I saw our resident/visiting hog early yesterday morning! My shriek of excitement meant it scuttled off rather quickly!
We've no holes at the bottom of our fences, but have an alleyway next to us, which is totally unkempt, that leads to open scrub/woodland behind us. I regularly find 'poo' along the route it must take- just about next to where I get out of my car after reversing it out of the garage!
Am hoping that the slug population will soon subside a bit....... J.
Great site on hedgehogs !
I'm going to make a hedgehog house and holes in my fence !!!
woo hoo !
FloBear, are the rescue hogs you released into the secured garden unable to survive in the wild? I help at a hedgehog rescue and where possible all rescued hogs get released back into the wild by means of volunteer gardens. They are free to come and go as they like.
Obviously there are some hogs who due to health issues (amputated legs, blind etc) need to be released into an enclosed garden where they are provided with ample food and water and housing.
Hedgehogs ? I LOVE 'em ! but every year, I find one young hog in the middle of our patch of green oop t'lotty, looking lost and cold, during the day. My wife and I quickly take the hog off to our local resue centre, and hope for the best. They are usually with an intestinal worm infestation or hypothermia, being too vulnerable to daytime temperatures. 50% success rate so far, but unfortunately, they seem to give up very quickly. Regarding hedgehog 'homes' in the garden, all these store bought contraptions are quite emotional, and a money making industry, capitalizing on well meaning wildlife lovers. The simple solution is to make a rustic lean to covered with leaves, old cuttings and in a quiet spot, Old bramble canes with plenty of thorns will keep the worst of predators out, Keep it simple, and let common sense prevail. One does NOT have to spend £'s and £'s to protect or provide for wildlife ! Nature has been doing it for millions of years, until we came and buggered it all up !
The best thing every gardener can do is stop killing slugs and snails so the poor hedgehogs have something to eat.