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Have you got hedgehogs in your garden?
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marigold



Joined: 02 Sep 2005
Posts: 12458
Location: West Sussex
PostPosted: Sun Sep 24, 06 7:43 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

I'm absolutely delighted to report that I found a hedgehog in my garden last night

The ****** cat wouldn't come in at bedtime, so I shone a torch up the garden to try and find her and there was hedgie snuffling around the compost bin . I don't think I've seen one since I was a teenager and I was sooo excited . It seemed a bit spooked by the light and stayed fairly still while I squatted down to "chat" for a few minutes. It chittered back at me rather crossly and beat a hasty retreat into the overgrown shubs when I nipped indoors for the camera.

Here's hoping that it has a large family and lots of friends...

hardworkinghippy



Joined: 01 Jan 2005
Posts: 1110
Location: Bourrou South West France
PostPosted: Sun Sep 24, 06 8:50 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Great Marigold - they're magic wee creatures aren't they ?

Our dogs go bonkers when they find one and there's so annoyed because they get jagged in the nose when they try to go in too close!

I took this pic last year of a little lady who we disturbed while we were moving hay for the winter. (I felt so guilty )

She moved her litter one by one to a safer place and I managed to run indoors and get the camera to snap the last one being carried (gently) to join his littermates.



We've got a lot of them here and the population seems to be doing very well.

marigold



Joined: 02 Sep 2005
Posts: 12458
Location: West Sussex
PostPosted: Sun Sep 24, 06 12:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

That's a fabulous pic HWH . I'm hoping my hedgehog will stay around and have some babies .

spanky



Joined: 14 Mar 2006
Posts: 121
Location: near lowestoft suffolk
PostPosted: Sun Sep 24, 06 12:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

no shortage of them here we have large marsh fileds and we often hear them grunting etc when the spring comes ,i take them away from here and stick em in hedgrows further down tha estate as they are prone to killing my birds and wrecking eggs

treaclepuss



Joined: 30 Aug 2006
Posts: 139

PostPosted: Sun Sep 24, 06 7:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

I love hedgehogs and a couple visit regularly. The good side is that I have hardly any slug or snail damage (hedgie+thrush = great combo) but the downside is that they invariably dug anywhere where I watered during the very dry spells this year. I lost a fair number of plants and the digging was quite distinctive ie not cat. I always fill a water bowl for them but they obviously find a cache of insects seeking moisture too.

Luckily they didn't touch the asparagus - my pride and joy - that would have been Bad News, grrr.

Penny Outskirts



Joined: 18 Sep 2005
Posts: 23385
Location: Planet, not on the....
PostPosted: Sun Sep 24, 06 10:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Just been out with the dog and to check the chickens are all secure, and found one wondering around in the back garden The dog took one look and ran in the opposite direction - he obviously remembers his encounter with "Dave" the other month, from which he came off very much the worst

Ooohh, I wonder if it was Dave

alisjs



Joined: 23 Jun 2006
Posts: 1497
Location: Conwy
PostPosted: Mon Sep 25, 06 7:55 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Saw one running across the road in front of my house last week....first one in years! I was v excited (I don`t get out much!).

James



Joined: 11 Jan 2006
Posts: 2866
Location: York
PostPosted: Tue Sep 26, 06 1:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Marigold- best of luck encouraging your visitor to stay. It does happen.

Last year, we had an adult that came to visit our garden, he or she would turn up at the same time every night, and have a really good scrummage through the greenhouse, the veg patch and even the garden shed before heading on to our neighbours.
This year, we have a little family. In August we saw an adult and one child. The child scurried over towards the vegetable plot, while the mum/ dad hunted for worms and slugs under the apple trees. The adult got a mouthful of stuff and headed back into a big pile of brash, lots of rustling, then came straight back out to continue feeding. So she may have had another young still in the nest.

There’s something lovely about them and I’d hate anything to happen to them. We’re in the centre of York and close to busy roads, so I do worry about them.

The pile of brash is getting HUGE, and is going to need reducing in size this autumn.
So I’ve talked to The British hedgehog reservation society (https://www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk/) about the best time of year to make changes to the garden, and how to do it. They’re very helpful.
I’m going to make a hedgehog house as recommended on this website, and leave it in place through late September and a few weeks of October, before moving the brash.

October is the important month for hedgehogs- they’ve finished bringing up their young, and the adults and young are all now hurrying to find somewere to hibernate. If you build a hedgehog house now, you’re in with a good chance of sharing your garden this winter and next summer.

Penny Outskirts



Joined: 18 Sep 2005
Posts: 23385
Location: Planet, not on the....
PostPosted: Tue Sep 26, 06 1:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

James wrote:
If you build a hedgehog house now, you’re in with a good chance of sharing your garden this winter and next summer.


Anyone have a good link to a site for details of a house? I want to encourage my visitor to the back garden, where the doggy can't get at him - we had another lucky escape last night, and I had to rescue Dave from the dog again.

marigold



Joined: 02 Sep 2005
Posts: 12458
Location: West Sussex
PostPosted: Tue Sep 26, 06 3:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Penny wrote:
James wrote:
If you build a hedgehog house now, you’re in with a good chance of sharing your garden this winter and next summer.


Anyone have a good link to a site for details of a house? I want to encourage my visitor to the back garden, where the doggy can't get at him - we had another lucky escape last night, and I had to rescue Dave from the dog again.


https://www.thehedgehog.co.uk/houses.htm from gingerwelly's post on the previous page has instructions and ones to buy

Penny Outskirts



Joined: 18 Sep 2005
Posts: 23385
Location: Planet, not on the....
PostPosted: Tue Sep 26, 06 3:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

marigold wrote:
https://www.thehedgehog.co.uk/houses.htm from gingerwelly's post on the previous page has instructions and ones to buy


Missed that, sorry

I have a old plastic box that will be perfect, once OH has worked his magic on it

marigold



Joined: 02 Sep 2005
Posts: 12458
Location: West Sussex
PostPosted: Tue Sep 26, 06 3:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Penny wrote:
marigold wrote:
https://www.thehedgehog.co.uk/houses.htm from gingerwelly's post on the previous page has instructions and ones to buy


Missed that, sorry

I have a old plastic box that will be perfect, once OH has worked his magic on it


No probs - wish I had a useful OH to make me one. I'd love to provide a proper house for "my" hedgie, but it's going to have to make do with a pile of logs

Bodger



Joined: 23 May 2006
Posts: 13524

PostPosted: Thu Sep 28, 06 2:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

We have Tiggy Winkles in the garden but one of our dogs has learnt the nack of killing them in a thrice, so we have a routine of going out into the garden each night to make sure the coast is clear. Its a nightmare !

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