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Hedgehog Watch!!!
Dovefromabove
Posts: 88,109
We've had two hedgehogs hibernating in our garden over the winter - one of them woke up last night - there was hedgehog poo on the pathway at the side of the house - I don't know which one it was - I've placed a little twig across the entrance to each house so maybe I'll be able to tell what's going on - and I'd better start putting a little hedgehog food out again - I've a feeling the grubs and beetles they're after may be a bit scarce at the moment as it's been so cold they may be buried right down in the soil.
I did refresh the little bowl of water yesterday, and it looks as though someone's had a good drink 
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
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to my surprise I spotted a hedgehog last night. It woke me up actually. Being so hot the bedroom window was wide open and I'm a light sleeper. He was scurrying off to the patio where there are some boards and stuff stacked up. Was planning on clearing them but maybe I will leave them a while in case its nesting in there.
Went out this morning and heard some bluebottles flying around on the side of the garden, took a look and some little dark poos. Not cat poo, so i thought must be the hedgehog. Looked down and there it was, only a foot away, lying under my hydrangea. He's moved off somewhere else now though.
The reason I am surprised is because although my garden has plenty of slugs and snails and leatherjackets (I'm assuming they'd eat those too), the garden is fenced in and the only gap is one or two inches (too small for the slim cat next door) under the garden gate. I guess it must have squeezed through there.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
If it wasn't for my bats and great crested newts I'd be feeling very jealous of you two, Dove and snowathlete.
I haven't seen a hedgehog for years
In the sticks near Peterborough
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I've acquired a visiting hog as well as a resident one
Initially I thought mine had ungratefully moved out but then I saw hog 1 again and realised it was smaller than hog 2.
I have a ground feeding cage for the birds on my front drive and every morning it's been bashed about and there's pig poo everywhere
I wonder if hog 2 was the one that got stuck in my neighbours veg netting that I put a thread on about recently; that was a sizeable hog. Possibly it was displaced from its original home when it got handed to me since not all the gardens are accessible from each other.
Either way, it lives across the street and bimbles over to mine around ten each night. Like snowathlete mentioned, I'd like to know how small a gap a hedgehog can get through as I'm leaving my side gate open each night.
I haven't put up any netting yet, but I'm a bit worried about doing so now incase HH gets stuck in it. I'd been planning to put some around some PSB.
Perhaps you could experiment with putting it at different heights? I'm not knowledgeable about veg but I suppose it depends what predators you require the netting for...
My next door neighbour went around to the other garden to cut the hog out, she had to use nail scissors it was that bound up. It seemed okay but I suppose another hazard was it not being noticed and dying of thirst or something horrid.
it'll be to keep butterflies off so will need to go all round, on top, and down the ground. I'll do a neat job and not have stray bits wafting off so it'll probably not cause a problem i guess and I'd certainly notice the same day if it got caught, just on my mind now whereas it wasnt before. I really did not expect one in my tiny little garden.
I also saw a small toad in my garden today, he was under my bag of compost where it's moist. I don't have a pond of anything so again a little surprised to see him. Happy they feel at home in my garden tho.
A little hedgehog ambled across the patio about 8'45 then he stopped and hasn't moved for two hours. I've put a plate of puppy food chum out and some water. Bit worried. I expected him to amble off by now.