Ours are still visiting and taking food from the dish. Though they do not always eat it all, I guess there is plenty of other food about this time of year.
Also had two keeping us amused a few weeks ago listening to them doing their hedgehog shuffle.
We have only seen one at a time more recently.
Also last week a slight worry seeing a large one in the garden in the afternoon. But there had been a tree gang removing the trunks of a tree that was felled last year on a nearby footpath earlier in the day, so we think it may have been disturbed, bit of a worry but it seems to have gone back to normal visiting hours.
I just hope there was no babies or nest involved. I think if there had been the parent would have moved them? Maybe just the noise of chainsaws frightened them.
Someone is out early...hope it is ok and as you say between homes, the ones that visit me normally turn up between 9.30 / 10pm and just like your little friend visit throughout the night.
My female visitor came for most of April, but has now disappeared hopefully shes busy with a nest of babies. The male comes but not every night, he is huge, so easy to tell its him. Last nights is a lighter coloured one similar in size to the female, so new to the garden. I have noticed that the hogs are roaming all over the garden, much more than in previous years.
Sorry your posts were not there when I was here earlier. (Feel rude not commenting). Ours comes quite early too more recently around 7.30 to 8.00 p.m. But also comes back later on to top up I guess.
They don't half drink a lot, seem to spend a log time drinking, maybe because the weather is dry or is that normal and I just had not seen them drink before.
One of our little hogs (mid size) comes soon after 8 p.m. first he visits the underneath of the bird feeders although the pheasant has scoffed most of the food dropped during the day, then hog comes to eat from our hog food dish. It is joined by two other hogs now, and they scoff most of the food before I bring the dish in around 11 p.m. There are 2 or 3 water dishes nearby. It is always a concern if they come early evening, but with daughter and partner helping at the local animal shelter and living nearby they have given the hogs a clean bill of health. I love reading your hog stories, they are such lovely little animals.
A tiny hoglet was saved from the road last night. I really didn't know what to do with it for the best. We let it go in our garden, I thought later I should have put it in a box with some food and water, but then perhaps the little hog wanted to find it's home - what would you have done? At least it has the whole of the summer to grow into a good healthy teenager before the cold winter comes again.
Last Autumn we found a few young hogs which we sent to the rescue centre for them to fatten them up before releasing into the wild this Spring.
Here is a photo from my local rescue of one of a nest of 4 hoglets rescued after being abandoned by mum. It gives you some idea of the size of them (they weigh between 18 & 25 grams at the moment.
Oh AnniD, so tiny and fragile looking, I do hope the rescue people can save them all. Thank goodness they were found before it was too late for them.
The hoglet found in the road here (above comment) wasn't as tiny as this, I certainly would have been concerned if it had been, they would have taken it to our animal shelter for extra care.
They need to be fed every 2-3 hours until around 2am, so there's a lot of work involved. Luckily the rescue has just taken delivery of an incubator so that is a help. Fingers crossed.....
Posts
Also had two keeping us amused a few weeks ago listening to them doing their hedgehog shuffle.
We have only seen one at a time more recently.
Also last week a slight worry seeing a large one in the garden in the afternoon. But there had been a tree gang removing the trunks of a tree that was felled last year on a nearby footpath earlier in the day, so we think it may have been disturbed, bit of a worry but it seems to have gone back to normal visiting hours.
I just hope there was no babies or nest involved. I think if there had been the parent would have moved them? Maybe just the noise of chainsaws frightened them.
Ours comes quite early too more recently around 7.30 to 8.00 p.m.
But also comes back later on to top up I guess.
They don't half drink a lot, seem to spend a log time drinking, maybe because the weather is dry or is that normal and I just had not seen them drink before.
https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2019-05-13/debates/4419D95F-AD1C-40B7-86FC-6564ED636AE6/BirdNestingSitesProtection
Let's see if they can practice what they preach.