Hedgehog advice

[Pinkshrimp]

I was thrilled to see a hedgehog ambling across the lawn when I got the cat in the other week. I had seen hedgehog poop a couple of times, weeks and weeks apart, so I didn’t think I had a regular visitor.

After seeing it myself I have been leaving water and food out each night but, when I went to put the food out recently, there were half a dozen slugs waiting by the dish. It seems I’ve trained the slugs to know what time feeding time is!

I keep leaving food out-hoping the slugs will attract the hedgehog- but does anyone have any tips? Is there a food that slugs hate but hedgehogs love? Do slug proof dishes exist?

If we give up on all wildlife that won't survive without positive human interaction then we're fucked, basically.
I don't think feeding hedgehogs is different to woodland planting or beaver reintroduction.

Or having a bird feeder for that matter!

Or having a bird feeder for that matter! well, people make exactly the same argument against feeding the birds.

On the other hand, for many birds, garden food is second best, used when natural sources are failing. Rather than artificially inflating numbers, it tides them over a lean spot so they avoid a population crash. Rather like waxwings coming over here in droves in a winter when their local food fails.

The main argument in favour of feeding, I think, is that by engaging with nature we begin to value it, and its long term success in a man-infested world is for as many people as possible to value it and put a brake on the exploitation and destruction of habitats.

Our garden appears to be heaving with hogs and we've created hog highways to help them around and do put hog food down but the greedy little shits are eating us out of house and home.

We've noticed though the last few nights they've eaten less and less so we're assuming they're preparing to hibernate so won't put much more food down.

We have become huge wildlife supporters and the garden is like a bird and hog playground now. We've also left the holes in the outside wall where a hanging basket thing went and miner bees make that their home every year.

It brings us great joy to leave the grass longer and lots of weeds in place because wildlife appear to love it.

Not sure the neighbours love us with their fake grass that gets vacuumed weekly and their beautifully placed furniture and accessories. The baby birds when they turned in to teens this year just squabbled and shit everywhere. Ooops.

Serve your neighbours right! Horatio My neighbour was explaining to me that she has no earth in her garden! She has a large carefully mown and, denuded of the cuttings, lawn. I tried to explain to her if she left the cuttings nature will create her earth.

So many people have no idea about nature or trying to 'go with it'. We have the same organic garden as you which astonishes the locals! In Fr.

Sat outside at work watching a hedgehog shuffling around in front of me.

I'm with you Horatio. Although sadly we haven't seen evidence of hedgehogs recently.
We do have two beautiful foxes passing through regularly recently.And often see a badger.
We're lucky to have a large garden and the bottom end is deliberately left scruffier for wildlife. Use no pesticides.Keep bees.And we're about to create a pond. And DH jokes I spend more on bird food than ours.
Several of our neighbours however have ripped out most of the vegetation and paved everywhere.One has gone full astroturf and new fencing and when I asked if they would consider leaving a hedgehog hole she was horrified at the idea of them passing through her pristine 'outdoor room '.Which is effectively what so many gardens have become.So sad.
It cheers me up to find fellow nature and wildlife lovers doing their bit to help.

Snuggle if you often see a badger then the hedgehogs are probably keeping their heads down or avoiding the area altogether.

...it cheers me up to find fellow nature and wildlife lovers doing their bit...

Yes me too. I stay with dm. in a warden assisted flat in a rural village in S.E. Eng. her flat literally backs on to a splendid hedge which must be many hundreds of years old with fabulous nesting birds in it etc. It's up a bank. Some of the residents want everything 'tidied up' and mum and I are trying to think of a way to save the hedgehogs etc. that use the base of the hedge. The warden agrees with me and has asked the gardeners to leave mum's section 'wilded' I have talked to them too and they agree but the management says to 'tidy' everything which makes me The gardeners come EVERY week too! I try not to get to upset.

Taken in the early hours

Oh I do like hedgehogs, thanks for the pix vodka

Beautiful pictures vodka

Any update, OP?

Here's mine at 9pm tonight.

I love the sound of your garden @HoratiotheHorsefly
😂 at a hog highway.

Here

Oh stop press we had a Mum and baby last night! Yes Horatio they do eat a lot but because we have 3 rescue cats who are soo damn fussy the hogs do well out of their leftovers. The cats ignore them which is great.

How do you get a pic without making them freeze and turn away Always ?

A mum and a baby? ❤️

I think she (?) is just used to me now. She just ignores me and continues to eat, or looks at me. Although, I don't disturb her every night, maybe 2-3 nights per week. All I have to do is open the door and hear the crunching of the nuts, and I know she's there

Yes they're such noisy eaters! they seemed to get into the bowls and bash away at the food! It was waking me up so they now have tin plates on the grass ( We leave a large saucer of water to them to paddle in) which they were doing in the hot weather!

The babies were in eating in our garden last night. They're just so unruly and the mess they make with their food, it's everywhere like a toddler slinging it out of the high chair

. Horatio Didn't your babies have their mum with them? I loved the way the mum here was right next to the baby trying to teach it manners (it seemed !!).

I’ve been checking for poop every morning but nothing. I’m still putting food out each evening and I did build a sort of shelter in the corner against the wall. I put a small twig at the entrance so I could see if it had moved but nothing.........until this morning!
Of course I can’t check to see if there is anyone home or if it’s the wind that moved it but I am very hopeful as it’s very sheltered there.

When do you all stop putting food out for them?

@AlwaysOnAbloodyDiet yours has a posh plate! What is it eating? I’d never thought about feeding it in the middle of the grass, that might stop the slugs. I will give that a go.

Fingers crossed for you

That is a delft plate from the Netherlands. I'm pretty sure that the person who gave it to me did not intend that it be used for that purpose
And it's just cat nuts. It's very near a border of bushes etc, so she has somewhere to go if she feels threatened.

I'm jealous of all of yours with babies! Maybe mine is actually a male after all. Or childfree by choice

@Pinkshrimp I think the last time I saw mine last year was October 31st, so I stopped putting food out shortly after that

Pink Are you in the middle of the countryside? If so it could be eaten by a badger or stray dog. We have a dog who's let out for his walk and sometimes he eats the hog's food. He or something else has eaten their droppings too!

Always I like the idea of a hog 'choosing' to be child free!! I'm still very unsure about their behaviour.

Our gardener found a proper nest of mum and baby hogs in a box in a quiet part of the garden many years ago. We live in Fr. off and on. I was annoyed because he picked up one of them to show us. He replaced it but we didn't see any till about 3 years ago and now we feed them properly they've been returning . Not in the very cold weather though, We always put out food for them because the cats tend to leave food and we give it to the hogs.

Delft plate -fancy!

No, I’m in a town. I’ve seen the slugs enjoying the food I’ve put down. I only saw the hedgehog & poop before I started leaving food out & it’s too dark and cold for me to want to hang about and see now.

I will keep leaving supplies in hope.

@ppeatfruit I don't know much about their behaviour either. They are a mystery. I think that's one of the many reasons why I love them so much ❤️

This is my favourite picture - Her paw on the plate (taken a few weeks ago)

That is sweet Always Is that a flowery tree above the hog ? it looks very glam!

Dh saw our baby hog, without the mum, last night who wasn't scared , just went on eating (we use a torch to see them now the night's have drawn in) . It's sooo funny I tried giving them some pumpkin seeds but they were carefully removed and left by the plate !!! They've done that with green beans too. But ate them the next night!

Whoever told dh that they eat everything is not quite right!