Hi, we had a hedgehog visit the garden today. Think it's a young one. We had some hedgehog dry food and I put out some water and a box with some straw in. It was a bit startled by our dogs unfortunately.
Hi, we saw it yesterday about 10:30pm and gave it some food which it scoffed down, and then again today about the 5:00 - 5:15pm. I had a look in the box and I cant see it but it might be buried in the straw.
That sounds okay @Mark-E, as it's dark then. I wouldn't disturb it again, just make sure your dogs keep away from it If you have any queries, or if you're in any doubt, l think this is the most local help to you. http://hedgehoghelplinecymru.org.uk/
Saw both little hogs out feeding last night, then the smallest one gathered up more leaves and took them to join the other one in here. They do have a choice, but I'm not sure if this one has been taken by an adult earlier in the Autumn. It's only now the leaves have dropped that I can see where they go.😁
Apologies if this has already been covered (I haven't read all 133 pages of this thread) but can I ask why it's important to put food out for hedgehogs?
I am lucky enough to have hedgehogs in my garden, I don't know how many there are, but I have seen 2 different ones in the last few weeks. They have plenty of cover - there are log piles, leaf piles, hedges and I always leave a few areas overgrown which I don't cut back until spring. There are plenty of gaps in my fence between my garden and the farmland behind it so they can come and go as they please, and I don't use slug pellets or any other insecticides - there are loads of worms, slugs, beetles etc around.
So back to the question - in these circumstances is there any good reasom why they need supplementary feeding? Am I not creating a dependency if I start regularly feeding them? (It's not a trick question, I have no expertise whatsoever and I am genuinely interested).
In my case @borgadr I'm in a village, the farmland starts about four streets away. We have busy roads surrounding the village on two sides, which cause some losses, so I try to encourage the hogs to stay away from the roads by providing easily available food. Over the last two years ( we have been here six) we have had late youngsters overwinter with us, which I hope has increased the numbers generally, as I am led to believe that late young don't survive in the countryside. Three years ago we had two young hogs in the front road of our house that needed rescuing in December, one survived. The soil in the area is heavy clay, making digging hard for hogs, and the gardens tend to be too neat to support them, so I just do my bit to help. Also being away from fields means no badgers to kill them. We also don't have foxes. Hope this explains the need to feed ( and water, as that is just as important)
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Is it still snuggled up in the box ?
I wouldn't disturb it again, just make sure your dogs keep away from it
If you have any queries, or if you're in any doubt, l think this is the most local help to you.
http://hedgehoghelplinecymru.org.uk/
They do have a choice, but I'm not sure if this one has been taken by an adult earlier in the Autumn.
It's only now the leaves have dropped that I can see where they go.😁
I am lucky enough to have hedgehogs in my garden, I don't know how many there are, but I have seen 2 different ones in the last few weeks. They have plenty of cover - there are log piles, leaf piles, hedges and I always leave a few areas overgrown which I don't cut back until spring. There are plenty of gaps in my fence between my garden and the farmland behind it so they can come and go as they please, and I don't use slug pellets or any other insecticides - there are loads of worms, slugs, beetles etc around.
So back to the question - in these circumstances is there any good reasom why they need supplementary feeding? Am I not creating a dependency if I start regularly feeding them? (It's not a trick question, I have no expertise whatsoever and I am genuinely interested).
Over the last two years ( we have been here six) we have had late youngsters overwinter with us, which I hope has increased the numbers generally, as I am led to believe that late young don't survive in the countryside. Three years ago we had two young hogs in the front road of our house that needed rescuing in December, one survived.
The soil in the area is heavy clay, making digging hard for hogs, and the gardens tend to be too neat to support them, so I just do my bit to help. Also being away from fields means no badgers to kill them. We also don't have foxes.
Hope this explains the need to feed ( and water, as that is just as important)