Thank you for the tag @Guernsey Donkey2, so sorry it’s taken me a while to get back. @Big Blue Sky, scratching in hedgehogs can be for various reasons, but is usually quite normal. It can occur whilst it is out exploring, deciding where to go next. So I’ve been told, it can occur whilst quilling is happening which can be quite uncomfortable for the hoggy, although I don’t know if this occurs for all species of hedgehogs. If there are flies around the hedgehog, this could be a cause of concern. I’ve known hoggies come in with fly strike and severely dehydrated.
No hedgehog last night for the first time in weeks with regard to the food. I know there was at least one around because I heard him scratching (!) in the flower bed although I couldn't see him anywhere. It usually seems to be the case at this time of year that they go off for a while. Always when l've just opened a new tin ! I will keep putting dog food out for a while then switch to cat biscuits, and keep checking the camera.
That's lovely @raisingirl 😁 Now all you need is hog food, water, bushes that reach the ground, hog house, night camera, .... 😁 And lots of time to watch your new visitor rooting about. It's a full time thing having hogs.🤣
I've seen him/her twice, both times when one of the dogs found him, so I'm not going to be encouraging him to come close enough to the house for me to watch him. I need to make him a safe place to get away from the hound.
We already have so much suitable habitat for him - presumably why he's here. I am - I now discover - 'rewilding' my garden, or most of it. Having seen it on GW and OH pointing said 'that's what we're doing - we're so cutting edge' I have lots of long grass, brambles, docks, thistles and nettles interspersed with a few other things, shallow water (spring overflow).
I will put food out in the autumn leading up to hibernation time, just to make sure, but he's a strapping big hog so I'm hoping he's finding plenty of wild food to eat.
I just need to make him safe from the dogs and give him somewhere nice and dry and warm to spend the winter
Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
We've got a hedgehog again! It seemed to be eating insects/slugs from around the garden, and I've put out special hedgehog biscuits, which it ate. And drank a little from the tray of water. But I'm a bit concerned, as I can see a few ticks on it, and this morning saw some movement in the borders which meant it must have been out in daylight.
And its now just sat motionless in the flowerbeds, has been for 10 mins or so. It looked lively enough when it was clambering through the undergrowth about an hour ago, but should I be concerned?
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I will keep putting dog food out for a while then switch to cat biscuits, and keep checking the camera.
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
Now all you need is hog food, water, bushes that reach the ground, hog house, night camera, .... 😁
And lots of time to watch your new visitor rooting about. It's a full time thing having hogs.🤣
I've seen him/her twice, both times when one of the dogs found him, so I'm not going to be encouraging him to come close enough to the house for me to watch him. I need to make him a safe place to get away from the hound.
We already have so much suitable habitat for him - presumably why he's here. I am - I now discover - 'rewilding' my garden, or most of it. Having seen it on GW and OH pointing said 'that's what we're doing - we're so cutting edge'
I will put food out in the autumn leading up to hibernation time, just to make sure, but he's a strapping big hog so I'm hoping he's finding plenty of wild food to eat.
I just need to make him safe from the dogs and give him somewhere nice and dry and warm to spend the winter
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
First time we have ever seen one on camera in the garden, we are so chuffed! 😍 I’ll try and upload a video this evening 🦔