Hedgehog finally took notice

[Soubriquet]

Of my hedgehog friendly garden!!!!

Been trying for months to attract them and last night, one appeared

I was chuffed to bits.

Strange thing though, it had patches of albino spikes.

I’ve rescued a lot of hedgehogs and hand reared one but I’ve never seen one like it

It was happy and active though

I was so happy

How did you make your garden hedgehog friendly?

I used to see lots of hedgehogs when I was little. It’s rare these days. Very rare. Love the little things though.

We have a large bit at the bottom of the garden which is full of cut off branches and stuff

We’ve let it get as wild as we can.

We also don’t use any pesticides or slug pellets and leave bowls of water around

I scattered some cat biscuits last night once we spotted the visitor

I’m hoping it’s still tucked up in the wild area but I’m not going to disturb it by rummaging though

We have regular visits from hedgehogs and one seems to insist on hibernating here too , lovely! So I bought one of those suped up hedgehogs homes for a bloody fortune but for many years hog has persisted in using the upturned bucket and plastic bag I created as a makeshift home early on.

Awwwww try and get a pic

I actually have a video of it!!

Will do some freeze frames and post some stills

Aww we used to see hedgehogs trundling up and down the lane when I was a child they can move really fast and we saw one climb over a 6ft grden wall. I live in the city now and I miss them.

Hard to get decent stills as it didn’t want to stay still but it’s there in the circle.

You should be able to see the albino patches on it

💕💕💕💕💕🦔🦔🦔🦔🦔

Love it!

It's interesting you mention th albino patches - I used to get six hedgehogs in my old house - I put out food and water fr them and they came regularly eveyr night, I lvoed them. But they were all quite different -- and easy to tell apart because their marking were very different (there was some size variation too). but one tends to think of hedge hogs as a kind of general brown colour, but they have quite distinctive differences.

Anyway - happy hedgehogging - they are brilliant

not in my house obv. - in the garden of my old house !

This is the orphan I hand reared 3 years ago.

He initially came in with his brother, but the brother had to be PTS. Something had attacked him and his poor guts was hanging out.

The remaining one we called Tyson and he flourished lovely.

He became very tame at one point but he reverted back to his wild state easily once he was moved outside into a pen to get used to it.

He had a soft release in that we left food for him a few days after he left with the enclosure door open. He came back two or three days and then he was gone.

Oh that’s so amazing. I hope Tyson is having a lovely life.

Me too

I did see a very large hedgehog in the area last year that I hoped was him (I checked it was a boy )

Would be nice to think there could be baby Tysons about too

We have a resident hedgehog we inherited when we moved I to our current house. He has a little house and we affectionately refer to hi. As Steve.

This is a lovely thread.

Stupid question....

I have to move in less than 6 weeks. Landlady wants her property back to move in herself.

This means the wildlife area the hedgehog is living in, will be dismantled.

She will not allow it to remain.

So....would I be unreasonable to pop hog into a box, move him with me and let him go in the new garden in a new wildlife area?

I hate having to ruin his/her area

I am being pedantic (and confess I know little about hedgehogs) but your hogs don't have "albino patches". Someone/something either has albinism or doesn't - there's no half measures. Your hogs just have white patches. As I say, I don't know much about hedgehogs but do have a son with albinism.

I found one accidentely in the garden last year just nestled in some wispy bits that had fallen off the clematis..not a good hiding place at all. So I bougth him a house.

The ungrateful bugger was never to be seen again

Scolding accepted

And yes they are not the most appreciative creatures

We have a massive fella that visits most nights as our NDN always puts food out for our three cats and he likes to help himself. They get on grand and can be seen chowing down on said food side by side. Love hedgies

Any opinions on taking Patch with me?

Used to work for a wildlife rescue, I would only take the hog if your new place already has hogs about so you know the area is suitable. Can you ask your new neighbours if they’ve seen any? Or is it close enough to your current place that the general habitat of the area would be the same? Patch is going to need some friends to shack up with.

I've only had a couple of sightings this year, last year they would come right up to the back door to eat. I had at least 5 different visitors (one with white patches) but I think they came for the water I put out and the discovered the cat food.

OP

How far are you moving? Is there a neighbour who could take over your hog feeding?

I don’t actually know where we are moving yet. We don’t have a house set up.

As for the neighbour, they have a very friendly but boisterous staffy who I think will enjoy the hog so I don’t think they are an option.

Plus like I said, the area we have set up for him will be dismantled.

Hopefully he can go and find somewhere else to live and I will try and encourage a new hog to the area