hedghog? this time of year?

atrixblue.-MFR-.

Ok so tonight after repairing the boot mechanism on my car, I packed up went to walk over to my fornt door when a hedgehog was just stood there, my ragdoll cat had jumped the kitchen window and came round front and being totally !!!!!! scared of it ran for dear life through the open front door and turned around looked at me as to say !!!!!! IS THAT!.


I thought to myself its odd to see a hedgehog this time of year, and went to inspect it to see if its hurt, I walked up to it and scuttled about 3 feet away from me, theres no limp so all fine with legs, I then picked it up (I know flea's and ticks be carefull) to see if it was cut or hurt anywhere, usually they curl in a ball but this one was happy enough to sniff me and be quite content in being picked up, I saw no blood it weighed a good bit for its size although it did have a few ticks one I thought that could give rise to issue later it was right by its eye and not big so I think that it had recently latched.


As this hedgehog was happy where he was in arms, and not hostile towards me I got the tick extracted complete with head and no blood came from the wound.


I put the little thing on the floor and off he went.


no im no expert in hedgehogs but aren't they supposed to be hibernating?

scaredy_cat

i think they should.

http://www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk/ they have good advice and contact numbers of carers for small hoggies.

elsien

Gitdog met his first hedgehog while out walking yesterday evening - he thought it was a ball and was batting at it with his paw, before I hoiked him away.
I have to be honest it never occurred to me it shouldn't be out and about. When do they normally start hibernating?
It looked quite small as well - starting to feel guilty now for not thinking about helping it. (Although I'm not entirely sure how I'd have got near it while hanging on to gitdog anyway.)

cheffy1

Been seeing two or three every night this week whilst walking the dogs, they seem to be everywhere

TheBairn

I have a least two hogs that visit for food every night. I think because it has been mild it's not yet "hibernation weather". As per BHPS hogs need to be approx 600g to survive hibernation. If you find tiny ones the BHPS can advise of local carers.
Atrix v jealous of your friendly hog, one of mine is off like the clappers as soon as I open the door but they are v cute. ( PS hogs fleas are host specific so shouldn't bother you or your cats).

atrixblue.-MFR-.

TheBairn wrote: »

I have a least two hogs that visit for food every night. I think because it has been mild it's not yet "hibernation weather". As per BHPS hogs need to be approx 600g to survive hibernation. If you find tiny ones the BHPS can advise of local carers.
Atrix v jealous of your friendly hog, one of mine is off like the clappers as soon as I open the door but they are v cute. ( PS hogs fleas are host specific so shouldn't bother you or your cats).

yeh but it doesnt deture them (the flea) to have a bite or two to find out you not a good host!, plus ticks.


I was surprised too to find this hog be quite friendly, he/she didn't seem to mind being picked up and once I did pick him/her up he/she sniffed around for 5 mins along my arm and chest and looked at me as if to say hello how are you, didn't mind his head stroked with a finger and then I noticed the tick next to the eye so removed it, it wasn't small but not big, he/she felt rather heavy for its size.


I get allot of hogs around here due to the overgrowth on the fields behind my house, I don't usually see any after the end of October, I usually get regular walking visits past my garden in the summer.

davenport151

TheBairn wrote: »

I have a least two hogs that visit for food every night. I think because it has been mild it's not yet "hibernation weather". As per BHPS hogs need to be approx 600g to survive hibernation. If you find tiny ones the BHPS can advise of local carers.
Atrix v jealous of your friendly hog, one of mine is off like the clappers as soon as I open the door but they are v cute. ( PS hogs fleas are host specific so shouldn't bother you or your cats).

I saw my regular hedgehog visitor on thursday night. It being night time and looking a good size, this was the conclusion I came too. It had also been damp that night so i'm guessing plenty of early hibernation food. I think i'm right in saying if they are smaller and out in the daytime then its because they cannot get enough food and need help.

Froglet

If they are found and are small at ANY time they need picking up and then you ned to contact a rescue centre for advice.Anything under 600 grams will die ,whether it hibernates or not.

Any bigger ones can be helped enormously by putting out dried cat or kitten biscuits to give it a boost before it hibernates.

Very good advice here http://www.thehedgehog.co.uk/autumn.htm and throughout the forum.

http://hedgehoghelp.co.uk/index.php?topic=8517.0

Cottage_Economy

Just to add to this thread, you can also put peanuts for them. Raw shelled peanuts, not the normal roasted or salted ones. You can usually find them in big bags in the pet section in the supermarket.

Sometimes hedgehogs do emerge from hibernation and go looking for a feed. We have many of differing ages in our garden and put out peanuts every night in different places. Most winter nights nothing is touched for days on end and then one night there'll be a good sized hog munching and then nothing for days or weeks. If we have munching that goes on for a few days we'll watch the garden and feeding station very closely to see who arrives and why, as night;y feeding in winter indicates a problem. Any small-ish looking ones we scoop up and over winter to release in spring. We keep plenty of insulated boxes, piles of leaves and straw, and the hedgehog favourite warm compost bins for them to sleep in.

By the way, can I appeal to any gardeners reading this to ensure that any currently unused netting of any kind in the garden, such as pea or conservatory shade netting, is put away please.

We have one here at the moment that got caught up on discarded pea netting on a friend's allotment and nearly died two night's ago during that bitter frost. It was stiff with cold and almost unresponsive when it was found after clearly struggling to free itself for hours, but we managed to warm it up slowly and get some hydration fluid into it. It's now happily scoffing bowls of food in our bathroom and has made a full recovery with luckily no cuts from the netting. It's around 550g but we don't know how long it had been struggling in the netting and could have been without food for days.

Also, please think about covering open containers of water, such as water butts, if possible, and if you have a pond with straight sides providing a couple of bricks here and there to allow a hog to climb out if it falls in while drinking. putting out fresh water regularly is helpful during cold periods, as it can be difficult for garden wildlife to find adequate water.

Froglet

Cottage_Economy wrote: »

Just to add to this thread, you can also put peanuts for them. Raw shelled peanuts, not the normal roasted or salted ones. You can usually find them in big bags in the pet section in the supermarket.

Sometimes hedgehogs do emerge from hibernation and go looking for a feed. We have many of differing ages in our garden and put out peanuts every night in different places. Most winter nights nothing is touched for days on end and then one night there'll be a good sized hog munching and then nothing for days or weeks. If we have munching that goes on for a few days we'll watch the garden and feeding station very closely to see who arrives and why, as night;y feeding in winter indicates a problem. Any small-ish looking ones we scoop up and over winter to release in spring. We keep plenty of insulated boxes, piles of leaves and straw, and the hedgehog favourite warm compost bins for them to sleep in.

By the way, can I appeal to any gardeners reading this to ensure that any currently unused netting of any kind in the garden, such as pea or conservatory shade netting, is put away please.

We have one here at the moment that got caught up on discarded pea netting on a friend's allotment and nearly died two night's ago during that bitter frost. It was stiff with cold and almost unresponsive when it was found after clearly struggling to free itself for hours, but we managed to warm it up slowly and get some hydration fluid into it. It's now happily scoffing bowls of food in our bathroom and has made a full recovery with luckily no cuts from the netting. It's around 550g but we don't know how long it had been struggling in the netting and could have been without food for days.

Also, please think about covering open containers of water, such as water butts, if possible, and if you have a pond with straight sides providing a couple of bricks here and there to allow a hog to climb out if it falls in while drinking. putting out fresh water regularly is helpful during cold periods, as it can be difficult for garden wildlife to find adequate water.

A big Thank you for what you are doing to help our endearing little hoggies.Are you a member of the wonderful hedgehog forum,as linked in my previous post? If not take a look ,we love hearing about new carers.

moggymutt

The hedgehogs that come and share the cats' food here never seem to hibernate as they have a lovely barn full of hay to keep them warm.