Save Our Hedgehogs!

[Zirconia]

We have been hog free now since my last post. At least where the trail camera is pointing. Out of the feeders out of camera shot there is no sign.

I now keep the usual station with some food but still leave water out. Birds will use it anyway. Magpies and Jackdaws wash food in it.

[Mr Pointy]

Mine are still feeding but taking less food. I've cut down from two dishes to one & there's still some left in the morning.

The plastic box feeding station is working very well. The paper on the floor of the box makes cleanup very easy & as a bonus I've found it keeps the slugs out of the bowls. They don't seem to like slithering over the dry paper.

[anonymous-user]

Mr Pointy said:

Mine are still feeding but taking less food. I've cut down from two dishes to one & there's still some left in the morning.

The plastic box feeding station is working very well. The paper on the floor of the box makes cleanup very easy & as a bonus I've found it keeps the slugs out of the bowls. They don't seem to like slithering over the dry paper.

Sorry if this is a daft question, but why don’t the hogs eat the slugs? Too many?

[The Don of Croy]

I haven't seen a hedgepig for decades, and rarely even a casualty on the road, and that's here in semi rural East Sussex travelling across Ashdown Forest every day.
Something has done for them, and I doubt it's the lack of holes in our fences.
Pity really as I used to like hearing them snuffle through the fallen leaves on a cold night.
I think I read somewhere that they are still the number 1 favourite UK wild beasty, so I hope they get the support they need.

[Mr Pointy]

garyhun said:

Sorry if this is a daft question, but why don’t the hogs eat the slugs? Too many?

Contrary to popular belief hedgehogs don't actually eat many slugs & they certainly don't go for the big slimy ones; they much prefer beetles & other small invertebrates.. Slugs & earthworms also carry lungworms which are bad news for hedgehogs.

[Zirconia]

I have seen hogs avoid slugs many times on the camera. Never twigged the slugs on paper.

I understand they will eat them when desperate and when they are that bad the parasites wreak havoc on them as they not in a fit state anyway.

The Don of Croy said:

I
Something has done for them, and I doubt it's the lack of holes in our fences.

I started to notice the droppings after making a hole for a cat. Unintended help. I had already stopped using pesticides and especially slug pellets, I grow a few things I like to eat and decided I didn't want chemicals in my food.

As I understand it, the range for some can be a few miles each night. The holes connect the gardens and help create a network of gardens for them to feast in. This is just a small part and not the whole solution. People seem to want everything just perfect in their gardens and create barren and chemical treated places that wildlife suffers for.

[Etypephil]

Mr Pointy said:

Mine are still feeding but taking less food. I've cut down from two dishes to one & there's still some left in the morning.

The plastic box feeding station is working very well. The paper on the floor of the box makes cleanup very easy & as a bonus I've found it keeps the slugs out of the bowls. They don't seem to like slithering over the dry paper.

The plastic box and paper sounds good, I'll try that. How big is it, and does it have a roof to help keep the food dry? Enormous slugs are a real PITA this year.

Zirconia said:

I started to notice the droppings after making a hole for a cat. Unintended help. I had already stopped using pesticides and especially slug pellets, I grow a few things I like to eat and decided I didn't want chemicals in my food.

As I understand it, the range for some can be a few miles each night. The holes connect the gardens and help create a network of gardens for them to feast in. This is just a small part and not the whole solution. People seem to want everything just perfect in their gardens and create barren and chemical treated places that wildlife suffers for.

We don't use pesticides and have built secluded shelters which the hedgehogs seem to like.

[Mr Pointy]

Etypephil said:

The plastic box and paper sounds good, I'll try that. How big is it, and does it have a roof to help keep the food dry? Enormous slugs are a real PITA this year.

The box I use is about 580 x 390 x 180 or 29l (see earlier in the thread for a picture):
https://www.diy.com/departments/kaze-clear-29l-pla...

It's not the strongest box but it was the most suitable one I could find at B&Q. Look for one that has an area on the end or side where you can cut a 110mm square hole without it falling apart because you cut through a rib. The idea is to put the bowls at the far end from the hole so cats can't reach them. The box I use is almost exactly the same width as the local weekly newspaper so it's an easy job to line it. A clip on lid would be good but failing that I just pop a brick on top which keeps everything dry & the lid stays secure.

This is what it looks like in the morning:



Hogs are messy animals & will crap anywhere, including in the bowls, so keeping the feeding station clean is important. I feed them dry kitten food which seems ok & you can feed them wet cat food if you can put up with the mess.

[Etypephil]

Thanks Mr Pointy,

[anonymous-user]

Interestingly we never get any poo where they eat. Is that because we're leaving the food and drink plates in the open?

[Zirconia]

Just spotted this.
https://www.gracethehedgehog.co.uk
There is a log for hogs
https://www.gracethehedgehog.co.uk/project-amazing...

My feeders are still not disturbed at the moment. Pretty sure they were feeding well into November last year. Sort of worry now that someone has put a fence in with no holes or something.

[Mr Pointy]

Mine are eating a lot less. Quite often only one of the bowls has been touched & I have only seen one HH at at time when it was common to see two eating from the bowls in the summer.

[Zirconia]

Channel 5 tonight. 8pm, new program with Steve Backshall

[anonymous-user]

Zirconia said:

Channel 5 tonight. 8pm, new program with Steve Backshall

Thanks for the heads-up!

[ApOrbital]

I have four hogs in a house i made for them might be three as i think next door ran one over and binned it.

[Who me ?]

I'm not so certain about ours. I did put some god quality dog food out in the gap in the fence to find a cat feeding and made very unwelcome by our dog . But recently my little terrier has been going daft round the garden. Last time I saw this was after we had a visit from on of the two ( one large and one medium ) hogs that visit. I have a two fence arrangement. At the very bottom of the garden we have a JRT proof six foot fence and a few feet from that a five foot( put up as I originally had Cairns) and I found that we had nightly visits from Hogs . Cairns are very good at detecting hogs.
Under the five foot fence I've found a gap- big enough for a large hog to get in. I've also found that JRT/JRT X are also very good at detecting Hogs. Latest little lady will actively hunt by scent any intruder, so I know I've had a visit.

[Evanivitch]

ApOrbital said:

I have four hogs in a house i made for them might be three as i think next door ran one over and binned it.

I've got a hog house under a large shrub our the front, it's a wicker type and hasn't been used. But I'm slowly building up garden clippings and cuttings around it, perhaps in the spring I'll find it's been visited.

I had the same issue with a bird box, thought it was completely unused until I checked in October and it was stuffed with moss!

[Zirconia]

Nets again.
(Ch 5 show)

[anonymous-user]

Zirconia said:

Nets again.
(Ch 5 show)

Always people!!

Anyway, we’ve got an area at the rear corner of our garden that’s very similar to that chaps garden who was helping the release program. We now know what we’re going to do with it