Mark can you give me or direct me to some information about hedgehog mating. We have two, and I am assuming they are male and female - there is a lot of noise coming from (the male we assume), when it circles around the female (we assume), but nothing more seems to happen. How long does courtship last and does the male then wander off into new territory or stay to help rear the hoglets? Sorry for all the questions, but I would love to know more about their breeding habits. Thank you.
Hedgehogs are ready to breed in the second year of their lives & the breeding season can start from around April. A high proportion of attempted hedgehog matings fail due to the female's lack of interest. Mating may only last a minute or two, and then they will go their separate ways. The male plays no further part in bringing up the family. He may travel far & compete with other males, including head butting & chasing. The female often mates several times before becoming pregnant, and quite a few females may reach the end of the season without conceiving.
There is certainly a lack of interest from what we have seen of this male dominated courtship Mark. She is far more interested in eating than any wooing from the male - although he certainly is a trier. We will keep our fingers crossed that she succumbs to his advances before too long.
Yes Mark, it was really informative and well done to the youngsters who were running the hedgehog hospital. We need lots more folk (of any age!) to be instrumental in helping the hogs. I've put a fact sheet out to our local Community council flagging up Hedgehog Awareness Week and simple details on how everyone can help by not using slug pellets, checking areas before strimming and feeding the correct food. Just hope it helps!
Same here with the rain Mark, but at least it will have bought the slugs and snails out, so perhaps the hedgehogs won't look for human feeding tonight. We had another rescued adult female delivered to us a few days ago, we have seen her just once since, so we hope she has found a mate/place to live in our garden.
Hi everyone...tonight is the grand opening of my Hoggies new feeding station.
So, here's hoping that Hoggie takes to it, it might take a bit of time for the newness ( meaning smell ) to fade away, but I've tried to temp her/him in with some dry hog food / mealworms and a bowl of water.
Hopefully the local cats won't like the hog biscuits / mealworms
What lucky hog residents you will have Sheps. I'm sure they will love it I put hay in mine. If all else fails with cats, face it a hog sized gap from directly facing the wall, did the trick for me
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Mark can you give me or direct me to some information about hedgehog mating. We have two, and I am assuming they are male and female - there is a lot of noise coming from (the male we assume), when it circles around the female (we assume), but nothing more seems to happen. How long does courtship last and does the male then wander off into new territory or stay to help rear the hoglets? Sorry for all the questions, but I would love to know more about their breeding habits. Thank you.
Hedgehogs are ready to breed in the second year of their lives & the breeding season can start from around April. A high proportion of attempted hedgehog matings fail due to the female's lack of interest. Mating may only last a minute or two, and then they will go their separate ways. The male plays no further part in bringing up the family. He may travel far & compete with other males, including head butting & chasing. The female often mates several times before becoming pregnant, and quite a few females may reach the end of the season without conceiving.
There is certainly a lack of interest from what we have seen of this male dominated courtship Mark. She is far more interested in eating than any wooing from the male - although he certainly is a trier. We will keep our fingers crossed that she succumbs to his advances before too long.
Figners crossed for you GD!
Did anyone see the segment on Hedgehog Awareness at the beginning of Countryfile last night?
Very informative & for once the BBC got it right (unlike the News presenter recommending bread & milk last Summer
)
Yes Mark, it was really informative and well done to the youngsters who were running the hedgehog hospital. We need lots more folk (of any age!) to be instrumental in helping the hogs. I've put a fact sheet out to our local Community council flagging up Hedgehog Awareness Week and simple details on how everyone can help by not using slug pellets, checking areas before strimming and feeding the correct food. Just hope it helps!
We had an early-ish visitor last night. He/she has obviously learnt that the early hedgehog gets the best choice
Oh bless.
Hoping the torrential downpour hasn't disturbed too many nests last night & today. Almost 24 hrs of heavy rain here
Same here with the rain Mark, but at least it will have bought the slugs and snails out, so perhaps the hedgehogs won't look for human feeding tonight. We had another rescued adult female delivered to us a few days ago, we have seen her just once since, so we hope she has found a mate/place to live in our garden.
Hi everyone...tonight is the grand opening of my Hoggies new feeding station.
So, here's hoping that Hoggie takes to it, it might take a bit of time for the newness ( meaning smell ) to fade away, but I've tried to temp her/him in with some dry hog food / mealworms and a bowl of water.
Hopefully the local cats won't like the hog biscuits / mealworms
What lucky hog residents you will have Sheps. I'm sure they will love it
I put hay in mine. If all else fails with cats, face it a hog sized gap from directly facing the wall, did the trick for me