How do I know if it's a hedgehog?

[AintNobodyHereButUsChickens]

When we moved into our house 4 years ago, we had 2 hedgehogs in our garden both within a few weeks of each other. I got excited and immediately purchased a hedgehog house and set it up in the front garden. However, the house remains unlived in and we haven't seen any hogs since, until last night when DH spotted one running across the road from our garden to over the road neighbours garden.

I put some dog food out next to the hog house and this morning it's all gone! How do I know if it WAS a hedgehog and not just a rat or something? I don't want to keep putting food out just to discover I'm literally putting food on a platter for the local rat population (FYI, we've never seen a rat nor had any sign of them even though we feed the birds!)

This mornings leftovers, lots of crumbs!

Our hedgehogs appear just as the light fades, so around 9.30pm at the moment. They eat the cat biscuits and leave nice poos in return. They're not bothered about us humans at all, we can get close to them if we move slowly and quietly. They're fascinating to watch when they start running around, they're surprisingly fast.

I wonder if less cars around this spring will mean more hedgehogs and a bumper boom of hoglets? I hope so.

We have hedgehogs, best time to see them is at sunset. They are noisy! I want to get a little hedgehog tent for our garden but husband thinks I am being ridiculous

Some people breed them for food. I'm told they are lovely, but haven't tried one yet.
They are full of vitamins and really good for you



@BabloHoney that's fabulous! We need one! We have a large hedgehog 🦔 that visits. They're so scarce now it's sad.

I love our hedgehogs!

But I need to make a feeding station for them, because according to our wildlife cam we are also keeping about 4 different cats supplied with midnight feasts.

OP I sometimes put a handful of dried mealworms on top of the food, cats won't touch them but hedgehogs love them. So if they are left behind I know it's just been cat visits that night.

I remember getting a hedgehog house one year - the year we got a little ginger kitten. He loved playing in it.. Then the puzzlement on his face when he could no longer fit!! He spent hours trying to get in!!
Wonder who was more daft. Him or me for sat watching!!

Interesting thread!
I only have one tiny, hedgehog related story. Many years ago as a young bride, alcohol had been consumed and it ended up as a sort of romantic 'dance in the moonlight'. I was running around the lawn and managed to kick a hedgehog(not on purpose) which hissed loudly at me. Something like a cat hiss. I never knew they even made noises!
I felt so guilty I sent contributions to the Tiggywinkles hospital for ages.

I would move mountains to have my own hedgehog family live in the garden. We had one once and I sat there for hours just watching it snuffle about.
I have also been known to stop my car to allow them to cross the road late at night (I work a late shift sometimes) I got a rather angry man get all shirty because I told him to "bloody well wait for it to cross!" he was happy to go over it if need be.
(this was a very quiet residential street, I don't do this on busy roads or main roads)

I don't understand the post about having rats if you have hedgehogs, what are the reasons?

I love that picture, how cute. He's got his own little bender.
You could make one very easily by bending some cane over and fixing plastic/ tarpaulin over the top.

Anyone read the recentish thread about a poster who could hear sex noises from their garden bushes.. Suggested responses were hedgehogs having sex as they were quite noisey..
Until op added that she heard one of the couple ask for a finger up the bum!
I laughed far too much!!

Omg windy 😂

Mealworms are discouraged as they're not good for them in fact beela The mineral deposits build up in the bones I think?

Stick to water and kitten biscuits (Asda and Tesco do an own brand box for £1). Wet food is fine but attracts flies so dry cat food is easier and creates less mess to clean up. Kitten biscuits in particular are smaller for the hogs to manage and pack in more nutrition. And cheaper than branded hedgehog food!

What to feed and what not to feed Hedgehogs 🦔

I was coming back to post that exact graphic squirrel 😂

Hedgehogs are great.

Oh no! I thought a few mealworms were OK

67p aldi cat food it is then.

Don't worry it's a common misconception! They eat insects in their normal diet so mealworms would seem like a good thing however:

"mealworms can actually cause a painful bone disease in hedgehogs and, in worst case scenarios, result in them losing their ability to walk. The high phosphate levels in theses worms are sapping hedgehogs of calcium and reducing the strength of their bones"

Cat food (in jelly or dry) is perfect!

A word of warning, DM has a hedgehog and feeds him nightly. In a fit of responsibility she purchased some "proper" hedgehog food which he has studiously refused to eat. If she mixes the proper stuff in with the usual stuff, he picks the proper food out the bowl and scatters it round the garden

This has just reminded me of a night where DH and I were a bit tipsy and walking up our street in the dark after a night out....there was some rustling in a neighbour's bin bags then these two mahusive hedgehogs emerged and ran off really quickly. I'd always thought they were much smaller and slower so it really cracked me up. I hope you do have hedgehogs!!

They do indeed make a lot of noise when having sex! I thought it was my neighbours until I saw them on the lawn. To be fair hedgehog sex must have to be done very carefully

We have a pair trotting round the garden. they can fairly shift when they want to. Just adore the prickly wee buggers

@SnugglySnerd

😂😂😂😂😂

We have some in our garden. Dh sees them at night when he goes out for a sneaky fag. They come out from under the summerhouse. You can see the track they've made in the grass as they've been following a regular path and it's littered with their poo. If you stand in the garden and are quiet you can hear them crunching on the beetles and snails etc. If you put out cat food, the vitK in it acts as an antidote to rat poison and snail/slug pellets (which is why if you have a day problem you should cover any pet food and store it in rat-proof containers).

Log any sightings here by the way so they can track and monitor hedgehog numbers www.hedgehogstreet.org/

Maybe there are lots of hedgehogs because they can't use a condom??
Oops sorry Harriet I think it burst!!

Hedgehog poo is REALLY easy to spot
as they are one of the few animals that shits as it walks
so the poo is often in trails

they are also VERY loud
nothing is noisier than a hedgehog crashing around in the bowl its eating from

hedgehog courtship is extraordinarily loud

I read somewhere that Mrs Prickles lays down flat and her spines flatten, so Mr Prickles can get on and do the business without too much discomfort.