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Another new addition to my garden visitors and yet another mouth to feed.
Spotted him while out replenishing the bird feeders this morning. Luckily I always have the camera handy and managed a couple of shots before he scampered off.
We have them too, though they only show themselves at nights. We usually only get to see them when they trigger the security lights, which they do quite frequently despite their size.
We sometimes leave them a few 'hedgehehog bites' (from Soarmills iirc) though I think they probably prefer to snaffle up the slugs that are daft enough to slither towards the tray of hedgehog bites.
I was watching them last night and it's amazing just how fast they can scuttle across the lawn.
We have them too, though they only show themselves at nights. We usually only get to see them when they trigger the security lights, which they do quite frequently despite their size.
We sometimes leave them a few 'hedgehehog bites' (from Soarmills iirc) though I think they probably prefer to snaffle up the slugs that are daft enough to slither towards the tray of hedgehog bites.
I was watching them last night and it's amazing just how fast they can scuttle across the lawn.
Pol
I was surprised to see it during the day and it took a while to register what I was looking at.
I have since discovered that they are partial to dog/cat biscuits.
I was surprised to see it during the day and it took a while to register what I was looking at.
I have since discovered that they are partial to dog/cat biscuits.
Puppy or dog food or cat food, though we've never left anything like that for them. The hoggies usually seem to do ok by themselves. They used to nest under one of our compost heaps actually. Dunno where they nest now since we changed over to plastic bins. We were pleased they kept visiting though - they're sweet. We use to have a member here (Pixel Pixie) who's wife had a sort of hedgehog rescue service. He once posted pictures of baby hogs about the size of his thumb. Lovely little creatures.
We don't often leave many hedgehog bites as prowling cats sometimes eat them before the hedgehogs, or slugs, can get to them. Just don't leave out any milk! They'll appreciate a drink of water from a ground level water bowl though. They use our ground level ceramic bird water bowl and they use it every night too. Nothing deep and also be sure there's an easy way for them to climb out if they fall into water or they drown.
We once left the meat tray outside the back door to cool then forgot about it. There was a scraping noise during the night. We investigated and it was a large/mature hedgehog tucking into the remains of meat and that had stuck and burnt onto the meat tray.
A couple of years ago on a chilly autumn day we found a juvenile racing around our front garden in broad daylight. Sadly, such a sitiuation is not promising and although we caught it and brought it in from the cold, it was clearly not well and was dead the next day. It probably wouldn't have survived the winter being so small.
A couple of years ago on a chilly autumn day we found a juvenile racing around our front garden in broad daylight. Sadly, such a sitiuation is not promising and although we caught it and brought it in from the cold, it was clearly not well and was dead the next day. It probably wouldn't have survived the winter being so small.
Ian
That's sad.
We have a wildlife rescue service about 4 miles down the road and I think they take hedgehogs, mainly birds though. It's just possible I may still have the bookmark for the hedgehog rescue centre Pixel Pixie used to mention. I'll have a rummage and see what I can find (not in the DPN archives, it was an outside site).
We have a Tiggywinkles not that far away. Unfortunately he died before we could get him there. BTW apparently tinned cat food is best for hedgehogs not milk and bread.
We have a wildlife rescue service about 4 miles down the road and I think they take hedgehogs, mainly birds though. It's just possible I may still have the bookmark for the hedgehog rescue centre Pixel Pixie used to mention. I'll have a rummage and see what I can find (not in the DPN archives, it was an outside site).
Pol
Indeed - we rang such a centre for advice but they basically said that it was unlikely to survive (too small for the time of year and being so active out during daytime was a sign of stress). We out it in a box with some food and water. It did drink a little, but it was dead by the next morning
Indeed - we rang such a centre for advice but they basically said that it was unlikely to survive (too small for the time of year and being so active out during daytime was a sign of stress). We out it in a box with some food and water. It did drink a little, but it was dead by the next morning
Ian
Enough! I'm crying already here for the poor little creature!
I hate it when we occasionally find a dead mouse or maybe a squirrel in the garden. We have all sorts buried here, including a dead duck that had been hit by a car passing a local lake.
We were recently finding young squirrels that were staggering around or lying down stunned and seemed to be confused and uncoordinated. Our initial thought was that they were injured or maybe suffering from a genetic birth defect. We soon sussed that they were actually drunk - yes well and truly sozzled. It had been raining heavily so the sultanas, (left out for the foxes and blackbirds) had gone soggy and fermented. The young squirrels had been eating them, hence their drunken stupor.
We immediately stopped leaving sultanas out in wet weather and we've had no more incidents of drunken squirrels so we assume that must have been the problem.
Enough! I'm crying already here for the poor little creature!
I hate it when we occasionally find a dead mouse or maybe a squirrel in the garden. We have all sorts buried here, including a dead duck that had been hit by a car passing a local lake.
We were recently finding young squirrels that were staggering around or lying down stunned and seemed to be confused and uncoordinated. Our initial thought was that they were injured or maybe suffering from a genetic birth defect. We soon sussed that they were actually drunk - yes well and truly sozzled. It had been raining heavily so the sultanas, (left out for the foxes and blackbirds) had gone soggy and fermented. The young squirrels had been eating them, hence their drunken stupor.
We immediately stopped leaving sultanas out in wet weather and we've had no more incidents of drunken squirrels so we assume that must have been the problem.
Pol
- you had me and Julia ROTFLOHO
You'll have the Customs and Excise on your doorstep and the RSPCA
You'll have the Customs and Excise on your doorstep and the RSPCA
Ian
I fell about laughing too when I realised what was happening.
I'd been setting up the tripod on the lawn for some outside tabletop stuff. Turned around and spotted a young squirrel flat out eyeing me with one eye half open, the other one closed. He was sprawled flat out, legs flat, like a playful puppy does at times. I thought it was dead at first, went to investigate and called for David to come and help with it. It slowly rolled its half open eye upwards into its skull, like it was breathing its last breath. As I got closer it suddenly opened both eyes, got to its feet as best it could and staggered drunkenly off over towards the shrubs. I realised there and then it was the same one that had been stuffing it's face with wet sultanas just a few minutes earlier and it was also lying very close to the place where they were. That's how we sussed what was happening.
It soon recovered enough to climb up to the dedicated squirrel feeder, ate a few peanuts then jumped over to the nearby birdbath for a long drink of wate ..... and promptly fell into the water. It was ok though. It just got out of the water, shook itself dry and ran away up the oak tree.
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