Update from the rescue: Dishes of water needed in the hot weather.
I'm getting loads of calls about young hedgehogs in gardens. Here are the rules:
If they are lying in the open or sunbathing on your lawn they need immediate help. Get them in a box and inside away from flies and predators then call your nearest rescue for help.
If they are spinning in tight circles they are in trouble and need help.
Otherwise, if they are wandering about they are probably thirsty. If there are no puddles around then there is often nothing for them to drink. A few hot days and they are in trouble. Please put shallow dishes of water under planting in the borders. Plant pot saucers are fine, top them up daily.
I've had my first visitor(s) to the hedgehog house the last couple of nights even more of the food has been eaten overnight when i checked this morning! The pic below was taken yesterday...
For bedding would hay be a good option? And should i put some in the house ready or leave it around the house so the hog can make its own bed?
Last Saturday my wife was heading out around 6.30pm and found a hedgehog, stood and panting in the middle of the road outside of our house. I brought it into the back garden, gave it water and food (proper dry hedgehog food) and it perked up, even started to wander around the back garden.
So i scooped it up into the washing basket where it dosed until sundown amongst a woollen jumper and a warm hot-water bottle. Glad to say that it looked lots better when released at dusk
And it seems that hogs have been around my feeding station every night since last Thursday too!
Well done Tom. You'll find that if you keep putting food out, the hogs will visit every night as part of their routine. You asked about using hay as bedding - the advice I was given was that hay can sometimes tangle around a leg & do damage. Similarly shredded paper can cause cuts, unless it is newsprint. Torn newsprint or straw is safe for temporary bedding, but for winter housing if there's plenty of leaves etc around the hogs will make their own nest if you provide the house!
Our tree in the garden is shedding leaves already , so l have been collecting them up and puttng them under the hedge near the hoggie box. We got some great moments on the camera last year of a hedgehog collecting them and taking them inside !
It feels good to have hogs visiting the garden and feeding every night (even if they are messy little things haha). I got a carrier bag of hay and left that under the hedge near the entrance to the hog house (because i read that they like to make their own beds). This morning there was a bit of a mess around it and as i went to brush some of the hay back in the bag i realised at least one hog was sleeping inside the bag the lazy thing haha they are funny
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Well done Tom.
Have you seen the video on feeding stations to avoid foxes & cats stealing their evening meals?
I think so Mark! Hopefully going to set it all up this evening
Update from the rescue: Dishes of water needed in the hot weather.
I'm getting loads of calls about young hedgehogs in gardens. Here are the rules:
If they are lying in the open or sunbathing on your lawn they need immediate help. Get them in a box and inside away from flies and predators then call your nearest rescue for help.
If they are spinning in tight circles they are in trouble and need help.
Otherwise, if they are wandering about they are probably thirsty. If there are no puddles around then there is often nothing for them to drink. A few hot days and they are in trouble. Please put shallow dishes of water under planting in the borders. Plant pot saucers are fine, top them up daily.
I've had my first visitor(s) to the hedgehog house the last couple of nights
even more of the food has been eaten overnight when i checked this morning! The pic below was taken yesterday...
For bedding would hay be a good option? And should i put some in the house ready or leave it around the house so the hog can make its own bed?
Last Saturday my wife was heading out around 6.30pm and found a hedgehog, stood and panting in the middle of the road outside of our house. I brought it into the back garden, gave it water and food (proper dry hedgehog food) and it perked up, even started to wander around the back garden.
So i scooped it up into the washing basket where it dosed until sundown amongst a woollen jumper and a warm hot-water bottle. Glad to say that it looked lots better when released at dusk
And it seems that hogs have been around my feeding station every night since last Thursday too!
Last edited: 05 September 2017 11:10:23
Well done Tom. You'll find that if you keep putting food out, the hogs will visit every night as part of their routine. You asked about using hay as bedding - the advice I was given was that hay can sometimes tangle around a leg & do damage. Similarly shredded paper can cause cuts, unless it is newsprint. Torn newsprint or straw is safe for temporary bedding, but for winter housing if there's plenty of leaves etc around the hogs will make their own nest if you provide the house!
Well done Tom
I use stray and dry beech leaves for the more lazy hogs.
Last edited: 05 September 2017 16:13:46
Agree with Clathy and Mark...well done indeed!!...you have made a real difference and most likely saved the little Hoggies life, excellent work, Tom
Our tree in the garden is shedding leaves already
, so l have been collecting them up and puttng them under the hedge near the hoggie box. We got some great moments on the camera last year of a hedgehog collecting them and taking them inside !
It feels good to have hogs visiting the garden and feeding every night (even if they are messy little things haha). I got a carrier bag of hay and left that under the hedge near the entrance to the hog house (because i read that they like to make their own beds). This morning there was a bit of a mess around it and as i went to brush some of the hay back in the bag i realised at least one hog was sleeping inside the bag the lazy thing haha they are funny