Blog

Fattening Up For Hibernation

Sun, 04 Oct 2009 04:13:00 -0400

Remember to leave out some food and water for Hedgehogs, especially at this time of year.

Hedgehogs will be putting on weight in order to hibernate in winter.

They will need to be at least 500g to hibernate safely, so it is vital you give them a helping hand.

Bethany.

First Night Of Hedgehog Watch- 10.07.09

Sat, 11 Jul 2009 00:56:00 -0400

I don't think of my night of Hedgehog watch could have gone better.

But there were a few problems to solve first...

Firstly, I can't watch out of my bedroom window like normal, because the lawn is too dark etc, making it difficult to see any Hedgehogs. So, I came up with the idea that I watch them from the comfort of our car, which is parked in an ideal place. This would give me everything I needed: A shelter where I could watch the Hedgehogs from.

I waited in the car until about 11:40pm. Then, I decided to take a walk around the garden, see what was about.

I immediately was aware of several Hedgehogs near by. Very near.

I stood on the path, straining my ears, and, at first, a quiet snuffling. But then followed by some definite movement. However, this Hedgehog I did not see because it was in the undergrowth.

Basically, I spent a while walking about, sitting on chairs and just watching, when I finally got what I was there for.

I was standing at the bottom of our path, looking out over the lawn, when suddenly, there were these rather loud rustling noises. Very loud, in fact. They were coming from the bottom of our back garden...So I watched and waited. Half of me expected to see a Cat or a Fox from the amount of noise that was being made; but after a few moments, a small Hedgehog came in to sight.

Now, every Hedgehog that I find, I'm going to make a record of, this Summer.

I picked the small Hedgehog up, and quickly carried him inside to the house. My intentions were to give him a health check and get some information about him.

I took some pictures, marked him, made sure he was hydrated, before then returning him to the place of which he was found. I will keep my eye out on him.

Here is the information about him:

I found:

- Name of Hedgehog: Titch

- Found: Back garden lawn

12:00am

- Weight: 358g

- Sex: Male

- Age: About 1 year

- Medical Notes: 2 ticks visible

Fleas

Cough/wheeze

- Over all condition: Good

- Marked: Red Nail Varnish to top half

- Released: Back garden lawn

12:15am

- Other Notes: Given water and food

- Status: Released

The good thing is, at the time of holding this Hedgehog in one hand, there was another 2 out and about in the garden at the same time. So, you can imagine how excited I am now.

I'm going to keep making notes and records, hopefully I'll be able to get an in-site in to their lives alot more now that I'm 'allowed' to stay out in the garden until such times.

Bethany.

It's Been A While

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 01:22:00 -0400

It's been some time since my last blog post, but now I'll give you an update.

Well, Summer's come, and all the Hedgehogs are now out of Hibernation.

Being as, for me, it's the Summer Holidays in less than 2 days, I'm going to get down to my usual Summer Hedgehog Watch.

Basically, with College out the way, I'll be able to stay up much later every night in order to watch these amazing creatures. It's something I've done every Summer Holiday for the last 4 years.

The new garden is full of Hedgehogs, I've seen a few myself, as well as other people who've reported their sightings to me. It looks at though there are more Hedgehogs here than the last location.

More blog updates soon.

Thank you for reading.

Bethany.

A Cat Problem

Thu, 19 Feb 2009 05:11:00 -0500

I may not have seen any Hedgehogs as yet, but I've certainly seen some of the local cats about.

Tuesday morning I woke up at 6:00am as usual in order to listen to some of the fantastic bird song and to watch the activity at the bird feeders. This all went well, until I was greeted to a rather un-welcome visitor: a cat.

This black and white feline was far from my friend, as it insisted on sitting just below my bird table, like it was rooted to the spot. Despite me hissing like hell at it from out of my bedroom window, the cat refused to move, giving me some rather strange looks. The hissing normally works, but on this occasion it didn't, and so the birds were faced with the prospect of being killed.

When a Blackbird landed in a tree just above the cat, I decided it was all too much, and quickly raced downstairs and in to the garden.

The sight of me in my PJs was all too much for the cat, who fortunately made a quick exit. The Blackbird had also fled the scene, but I'm sure both the cat and the Blackbird will return again. For the cat, this will be all too soon...

That same day I saw another cat, this one looked like a dog. It did not show much interest in the bird table, but you never know.

Well, this morning that black and white cat returned, and I again found myslef having to run up the garden just to put it off the birds.

Now, don't get me wrong, I like cats (in some ways) but sometimes they really do anger me. I know it is just the cat's natural bahaviour: to hunt birds etc, but cat owners could do 1 or both of the things below to stop them from killing:

1) They could attatch a bell to the cats collar which will alert birds and other animals that the cat is hunting them.

2) They could try to keep the cat inside at dusk and dawn, which is when most cats hunt.

The above is just a few ways cat owners could do their bit for wildlife.

But there is another problem: cats steal the Hedgehogs' food.

Luckly, Hedgehog feeding stations should prevent cats, dogs and foxes from getting the Hedgehogs' food.

You can do your bit by building or buying a Hedgehog feeding station (see the Attract Hedgehogs page.)

Bethany.

Compost Heap & Log Pile

Wed, 18 Feb 2009 07:41:00 -0500

I have made a compost heap at the bottom of the garden in the hope that it will attract Hedgehogs.

Insects that Hedgehogs eat such as beetles and worms will make their home in a compost heap. As well as that, Hedgehogs like to nest in compost heaps. They will sometimes breed and hibernate in them too.

Log piles also attract insects, so there will be plenty of natural food for the Hedgehogs.

Do you have a compost heap or a log pile? If so, leave a comment and tell me about it.

Bethany.

Hedgehog Box

Wed, 18 Feb 2009 07:37:00 -0500

I have just made a new Hedgehog box for the garden.

I got a normal plastic storage box (no lid) and cut a small, square entrance hole in it using a saw. I then filed down the sharpe edges that was left on the box by the saw.

I put the Hedgehog box under some conifers at the bottom of the garden.

The plastic box was the only thing I could find to make a Hedgehog Home, so It'll do for the time being, untill I build or buy a proper box.

Bethany.

Not Long Now

Wed, 18 Feb 2009 07:22:00 -0500

Nearly March! And that will be the time when some Hedgehogs will start to emerge from their nests.

Then, I'll be able to see if I'm lucky enough to have Hedgehogs at this new location, all very exciting indeed.

In the mean time, I'm going to give you a few updates on the other wildlife in my garden. This is mainly birds, but there are some fantastic species which I have been fortunate enough to see.

Well, I have seen a Grey Wagtail a Blackcap and a Fieldfare, which are all a first for me. Before I moved here, I had never seen any of them before, but, due to feeding the birds, I have managed to attract them.

There have been many other birds I have seen too, but I will only name a few: Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Chaffinch, Bullfinch, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Coal Tit, Mistle Thrush, Song Thrush, Blackbird, Dunnock, Robin and many, many more.

I have been busy creating many different habitats for all sorts of wildlife, hopefully attracting Hedgehogs.

Bethany.

New Location

Sun, 15 Feb 2009 04:27:00 -0500

We have recently moved house to a new location, and because of this, I have been very concerned about the Hedgehogs at the old house.

You see, now that I have moved, no Hedgehogs can be fed at the old location.

My worry is that they will come round from hibernation and find no food.

As you know, this is a very dangerous time of year for Hedgehogs, and just a little bit of food could save a life.

I have seen no Hedgehogs as yet in our new garden, hopefuly this is just because they are in hibernation. I will have to wait and see if we are again lucky enough to have Hedgehogs in the area, which is going to be hard.

In the mean time, please remember to feed the Hedgehogs in your garden!

Bethany.

The BBC Got It Wrong

Fri, 28 Nov 2008 12:49:00 -0500

I was informed by a member of my Hedgehog forum that recently, the BBC published a news article on the European Hedgehog which contained incorrect information.

Here is the article:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7750560.stm

Upon watching the news article, I quickly reslised that they had made multiple mistakes to do with the Hedgehog.

The BBC wrongly put the message across that Hedgehogs that are 300g and over are ok to continue on in the wild at this time of year. This incorrect information had now been broadcast to many people.

Hedgehogs should be at least 500g to survive, although we prefer 600g.

Please help by informing the BBC that they are wrong. You can do so here:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/newswatch/ukfs/hi/newsid_4030000/newsid_4032600/4032695.stm

New Forum!

Sat, 01 Nov 2008 04:54:00 -0400

Hello all,

Just a quick note- I have decided to construct a forum for us to talk about the Hedgehogs on. This should be ready in a Day or two, time wise. The new forum should be able to grow quickly thanks to the kind people who have added a link on their website to this one. Hopefuly all should go well.

I've already been Admin of 2 forums before, these have been passed on to others so I can really put my time towards this website... and forum- soon!

So watch this space!

Bethany.