To tell you a bit about Hedgehogs?

[Halstead]

There was a thread very recently, asking for ‘controversial opinions’. It got zapped really quickly.

One posters completely nonsense controversial opinion was that ‘Hedgehogs are flea ridden vermin’

I rescue Hedgehogs. I therefore think I’m being completely reasonable in stating Hedgehogs normally only have fleas when they are suffering from a wider illness. Of the ones we rescue each year, perhaps 1 in 5 have fleas (easily treated but NEVER with cat/dog flea treatment as the active ingredient is lethal to hedgehogs).

I also think I’m not being unreasonable when I tell you Hedgehog fleas are host specific. They aren’t the same type of fleas that invade cats and dogs, and they don’t bite humans, so you don’t need to worry about Hedgehog fleas invading your house and living in your carpets should you come across these critters in your back garden.

Hedgehogs really are in serious trouble at the moment. If they continue to decline at current rates, it’s predicted they’ll be extinct in the UK by 2025.

The current weather really isn’t helping. The hard ground means their main food source (beetles, caterpillars) are very hard to come by. Contrary to popular opinion, Hedgehogs shouldn’t (and don’t generally) eat slugs. If they do, it usually means they’re starving. Slugs often given them illnesses like lung worm and fluke which can be fatal to hogs. It really isn’t a pleasant death, either.

So… AIBU to tell you about about Hogs?... and ask you to pop out water and… if you can… something like kitten biscuit (high protein, low cereal, no milk variety) for our spiney friends? They would very much appreciate it.

Just wanted to mention this amazing rescue place if anyone is remotely nearby -it is in South Leicestershire.

Every year they have hundreds of sick/orphaned hogs that they take in and treat. Not just hedgehogs, all wild birds and animals.

They are a charity and rely solely on fundraising and donations.

I’m not linking them for donation purposes but to raise awareness in case anyone comes across a hog in need and is anywhere nearby.

Do get in touch with them first though, Facebook message is usually quicker (and lots of lovely hoglets photos 🦔)

Leicestershire Wildlife Hospital

Their Facebook page

I like the idea of the hedgehog feeding station to stop foxes , but how can you stop rats getting the food?

@TwoMonthsOff haven’t had a drop for ages, our grass is like hay and the ground like concrete. Still loads of slugs and snails though, worse luck.

Well you can’t really stop a determined rat, but, what you can do is place the feeding station (Google the best type, twisty turns and covered and more than one exit) put on the middle of the garden and even move it around a little bit every so often. Hedgehogs won’t mind it being out in the open but rats will. They like to keep to the edges of fences, walls etc (hence ‘rat runs’) and unlike mice - who will happily investigate new things, rats will be very wary of any changes to the environment and take a while before they ‘trust’ it - so living the feeding station slightly (still right out on the open though) and loving garden furniture around etc will make them uncomfortable about going near it.

Here’s our two current charges, waiting to get up to weight before release. Hopefully next few days, they are piling on the weight now 🥰

@ParvuliThankYouDebbie
aaaaw -are they rescued ? Thank you for helping them 🥰 second one little face is so sweet

@Halstead
love the Santa hat 😭

I love these hedgehog threads. We don't have them in the US but we do have opossums and we have to encourage people to appreciate them because they are so beneficial to the environment.

@Boxowine
do you get raccoons ? I love them ❤️

Yes, DDs work at an animal rescue that also has a Hedgehog rescue incorporated. You would not believe amount of hedgies that come in to rescue, for various different reasons, it’s almost difficult to believe they’re under threat, but of course they are, and the amount coming in highlights that humans come in to contact with them far more often than we should, because of our own way of life - not theirs. So we have a lot of volunteers for rewilding the hedgies, they need a specific set of circumstances, lots go back to where they came from if the location is acceptable. These two are both males, we only just found that out as they’ve got bigger, we thought we had a male and female. Once they’re off, when they’re of a good weight, o e or other will probably find their own space - it’s huge here, with hedgehog highways on all sides. We’ve made a terrible error though, I feel, we’ve given them names 😑. I love them already but I know that’s on a hiding to nothing 🥰

Oh, also meant to say, you wouldn’t believe how individual they all are. Totally different little faces, and personalities, also even their spines and rolling habits differ. The first picture is Lupin and he is very soft spiked and runs rather than rolls - not perfect for his future but let’s hope he learns (this is why we try to
minimise human contact). The second is Hattsbi and he is a much better roller and VERY uncomfortably spiky, thankfully!

A woman I know rescued an African pygmy hedgehog (I think) from some person on Gumtree who hadn't been looking after him. The hog has his own Instagram, his name is Mr Pickles. The poor thing had lots of spines dropping out when she got him but is slowly growing them back. I met her at an old job where she said she had to move as her landlord wouldn't let her keep her pet. I was expecting a cat or hamster or something so was a bit shocked when she said hedgehog 😊 She ran off down the road (she lived a few doors down from the office) and came back with her spiky little hate potato (whoever coined that term,I think it was @Halstead it's the best name for them) and he quickly won the hearts of lots of us. After that he was a regular visitor. He loved mint and would kind of spit on his back when he got excited. He also loved hair, the little oddball 😁

Not hedgehog related but I’ve just seen my first bat this year ….❤️❤️❤️maybe the storm ha s brought them out amazing how they zoom about
hedgehogs not yet out ….

Our neighbour mentioned seeing a hedgehog out in the day about a week ago but said it was moving fast. Told him it was likely ok then as it's not unheard of in late summer and gave him cat food to put out.

Couple of days later he came round excited and told me to come and see as it was eating the food.

Thank goodness he did as it quickly became apparent something wasn't right.

She was moving slowly and tottering, and didn't roll (she tried) when I approached.

I boxed her and called the SSPCA, who collected her. Neither I nor the inspector could see any obvious injuries, so hoped she was just dehydrated.

On speaking to another neighbour it turns out a few folk have been feeding her so I think one possibility is she's been given milk.

@ImperioMarch
do you know if she is okay now ….

Sadly not. The SSPCA don't update

@ImperioMarch
lets just hope it was good, she looks very healthy 🥰

Thanks Halstead etc for replies to climbing question. No can't drill a hole in the wall - it's really really thick, maybe 18 inches, and 200+ years old (but not crumbling at all), and while our neighbour's a great chap and puts up with us very patiently, there are other ways into his garden which hedgehogs could use, so I don't think there's anything in it for him in drilling a hole like that - also dh wouldn't agree to it in any way shape or form.

No hedgehogs for us, sniff.

Hello hedgehog people!

I am currently watching a hedgehog build its nest under one of my trees in the garden. It seems absolutely fine, no obvious injuries, bright eyes and a determined little fellow/madam. I've sent my Dad to the shop to get some kitten kibble and it's just had a drink. But should it be out during the day? Even if it's building a nest.

It knows we're here and is just steadfastly collecting leaves back and forth. DS had named it Waffle Hoggy.

Ah I love this thread! We have a little hedgehog house at the bottom of our garden under the trees, sadly we lost ‘our’ hedgehog Mavis last year to a disease from flies; called out the hedgehog rescue place and they tried but couldn’t save her 😥 She suddenly appeared during the day and I knew something was wrong. I cried my eyes out when they told me they couldn’t save her.

Now we have Harold; a very confident little fellow (purely guessing his gender btw!) who appears at 10pm like clockwork every night and comes for a drink and some food. The other night I nearly stepped on him as went out to watch him and he was sitting directly outside the back door, he’d run out of food and clearly knows where he gets fed 🤣

My question OP, apologies I’ve not had time to RTFH, is can they eat bird feed? Harold seems to enjoy snuffling up the bird seed I leave out on the grass for the birds, is this okay for him?

Keep an eye, but Waffle Hoggy should be fine… it’s the one time they’re ok to be out in the day (nest building). Best way to judge if it needs help… is it moving purposefully or meandering? Former = likely to be ok. Latter = not.

Also, try to look at from above. It it’s back end round/rotund or does it look baguette shaped? Former = ok. Latter = likely to need help.

It’s a bit late for them to be building nests… could be a bit confused with the weather. If it has a (very) late litter of hoglets, they will defo need help; they don’t stand a chance of putting on enough weight to hibernate in a few months.

Defo worth keeping an eye.. thank you for caring.

I’m sorry you lost Mavis… Flystrike (presumably that’s what she got?) is awful. It’s heartbreaking when you loose them.

it starts out with them having things that look like little grains of rice in their spines - if you see that, get them to a rescue ASAP (they’re maggots 😟).

So bird food is ok, won’t do them any harm (although sunflower seed hearts aren’t brilliant for them if it has that in). However, it’s not particularly high in protein which is what they need most at this time of year.

Best thing you can feed them is kitten food…. Wet or dry. Check for milk content (big no) but sainsburys and Tesco own brand kitten food is ~30% protein (and cheap as chips). It really helps them pile on weight which is great as we come into winter

Sainsburys and Tesco own brand dry kitten food, I should say.

i have a resident hedgehog in the garden, unfortunately I let my dog out for a wee before I realised he was out there. She gave him a fright and batted him with her paw, I got her back in and the hedgehog made a swift exit. I’ve not seen him since ☹️ Will he come back or has she frightened him off?

I very much doubt it…. They’re (hogs) hard as nails, and dogs won’t trouble them too much (with the odd exception). Pop some food and water down and I imagine he’ll be back (may take a while but persevere).