Hedgehogs

JanCee

We have a hedgehog in our garden, there is no mistake about it as I have seen it in action.

Now I really like hedgehogs and I have read the posts on here that state how beneficial they are to the garden but this little chap is making a right mess of my lawn. There are holes everywhere where he is digging something out.

Is he doing us a favour by getting rid of insects that would damage the grass or does he need an ASBO?

foxgloves

I've never known 'our' hedgehog dig bits out of the lawn....tho' he leaves plenty of poo behind! I love hedgehogs & I think they are now a declining species, so I think they would be welcome in my garden whatever......just a thought tho'.....if he's looking for earthworms, could you distract him from that by putting a plate of food out? They like cat food....even dried up horrible unappetising chunks that cat has left. Also, he will be hibernating soon, so needs to build up a good bodyweight to survive the winter. If you could put up with his behaviour for another month or so, he should disappear for a bit.

bordercars

declining species...are you sure. last year we had 2. mum and baby (spike) this year there are 4 we think 2 mums and 1 baby and maybe last years baby. no damage to our grass either. when do they go though. last year ours stayed till we went on hols 1st week oct, this year we havent seen them now for a week

Poosmate

Are you sure it's not a very hairy mole?

valk_scot

Give him a plate of dog or cat food (NOT bread and milk, which can kill hedgehogs) and help him fatten up for the winter hibernation a bit. Then maybe he'll leave the lawn alone.

warehouse

It's the squirrels that will be digging the lawn up, not hedgy.

JanCee

warehouse wrote: »

It's the squirrels that will be digging the lawn up, not hedgy.

No I've seen him in action, both at night and in broad daylight. The culprit is the hedgehog. I might try the cat food tip, but OH is worried that it will attract rats.

valk_scot

JanCee wrote: »

No I've seen him in action, both at night and in broad daylight. The culprit is the hedgehog. I might try the cat food tip, but OH is worried that it will attract rats.

I was camping this summer in my big trailer tent....woke up one night to hear scritching and snuffling down in the main awning area and thought it must be a rat. Rats in tents are not ideal and my hubby is useless at waking up and dealing with this sort of thing so I grabbed a torch and the mallet and went stamping down into the awning, hoping the "rat" would take the hint and push off. No rat...oh !!!!!!, probably under the kitchen unit. Nope, but the bin bag was moving, eek! I threw a shoe at the bag (I'm very high tech when it comes to pest control at 2am) and it tipped over...and out waddled this grumpy looking hedgehog. How to evict a hedghog from your tent at 2am while you're wearing only a nightie and a pair of Crocs, mmmm? Which is why if any of my neighbours had been awake at that hour they'd have seen me, still clad only in the above plus a pair of oven gloves, stomping across the campsite carrying a hedghog.

I quite like hedgehogs have to say. Just not noisy ones.