Just seen my first hoglet of the year, so now we have 4 - 5 adults and one youngster visiting our water bowls each evening. With all the romantic liaisons between them most evenings I am hoping for more babies arriving before autumn.
Hadn’t seen any hedgehogs in our garden for a few years, since our favourite boy who used to come in through the cat flap & would happily eat from our cat’s food bowls, alongside them & the confused dog! Then last week, I heard a snuffling inside a juddering hedge, and, voila! We’ve been leaving food and water out every night, & I’m pretty sure this little guy appreciates it!
I am sure he does appreciate your care - finding earth worms, snails and slugs in this hot dry weather must be so difficult, and perhaps impossible in some gardens. They deserve all the help they can get. We leave fresh water bowls and hog food for them every night, and we have been rewarded with up to 5 adults and now a youngster coming between 10 - 11 p.m. each evening, after they have feasted under the bird table.
I took this still from our camera last night, the 2nd hog got as far as the entrance and then decided not to risk it ! I put more food out than usual last night, and the dish was clean this morning.
I have had hedgehogs in my garden for the last 10 years and in 2014 I was the 4th highest recorder of hedgehog sightings in the country (PTES Hibernation Survey).Five a night was not unusual and regularly had 3 sleep together in the hog house during the day.None hibernated over the winter in the house but one winter I had hogs coming all through as they did not hibernate! Sadly I have not seen a hedgehog in my garden since March this year which I find very worrying.I will continue to put out food and water in the hope that they will return.I actually miss my morning routine of cleaning hog poo off the patio!
Summer 2015
“Every day is ordinary, until it isn't.” - Bernard Cornwell-Death of Kings
What a lovely, comforting picture that is of the three hogs sleeping together Madpenguin and how wonderful to have a regular 5 hedgehogs in your garden. I do hope you have some more little visitors to your garden soon. We have a house for them, but as far as we know it has never been used. Perhaps it isn't welcoming enough.
We 'slept' under the stars in our garden last night until around 3.30am ... we knew we had one ... sometimes two hedgehogs visiting the feeding station on the terrace ... last night three different hedgehogs visited and tucked into the cat biscuits ... and it was interesting to see how each of them guzzled down the fresh water that we put in a shallow bowl every evening. A fascinating night ... even if we did need a bit of a lay in this morning
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
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Sadly I have not seen a hedgehog in my garden since March this year which I find very worrying.I will continue to put out food and water in the hope that they will return.I actually miss my morning routine of cleaning hog poo off the patio!
Summer 2015
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.