Unexpected winter visitor

[mikej460]

As the badger population went up the hedgehog population went down and oddly in most if not all areas where the Badger cull happened hedgehog numbers increased but apparently there unconnected

Badgers love to eat hedgehogs and the correlation is spot on but slug pellets are also responsible so please don't use them!

 

[doctor Bob]

Got to love a hedgehog.
I have a big garden, lots of hedging and rough areas but think our dogs would scare any away. Not seen one for a long time.

 

[Nigel Burden]

We only have a small garden but we often have hedgehog droppings on the drive.

A few years ago my daughter brought a hedgehog home that had been brought in to the vets where she worked as a veterinary nurse. It had a deformed rear leg, so I made a box for it and kept it in the garage over winter, then in spring put the box out in the garden. It stayed with us for a few months until one day when it never came back.

I remember my parents terrier cross would go out and pick up hedgehogs and come in with a bloody mouth. I think she always came off worse though.

Nigel.

 

[Billy_wizz]

Badgers love to eat hedgehogs and the correlation is spot on but slug pellets are also responsible so please don't use them!

Sorry the "apparently there's no correlation" was supposed to be sarcastic as many wildlife groups continue to deny the fact as it paints the badger in a different light than the poor fluffy harmless animal they want people to believe

 

[TheUnicorn]

Sorry the "apparently there's no correlation" was supposed to be sarcastic as many wildlife groups continue to deny the fact as it paints the badger in a different light than the poor fluffy harmless animal they want people to believe

Yeah badgers are anything but harmless, certainly wouldn't want to corner one. We have badgers and foxes in the area, and no hedgehogs, so i would tend to agree with you

 

[redhunter350]

Billy-Wizz none so blind as those who will not see ! Badgers are the hedgehogs only predator, a Badger can open a rolled up hedgehog . This coupled with the fact that most creatures who feed on invertebrates are in decline largely caused by our never ending quest to produce more food, more cheaply off less and less land !

 

[Sandyn]

Hedgehog update:- Well the hedgehog has been with us for almost a week now. It has settled into it's new temporary home. It is eating a sachet of wet cat food a day also some chicken, cat biscuits and meal worms. I have a camera on it to see what it gets up to. Generally quiet during the day, but will be tempted out of its box if it smells meal worms. It seems to come out about 5 times a night for feeding and dumping. As soon as it hits the 550g weight and the temperature rises, it will be released and fed in the wild.
Apart from the hedgehog, we seem to have adopted a squirrel which virtually taps the patio door to be fed, also saw a weasel the other day on the patio. Never seen one in the garden before. All these creatures going to eat us out of house and home!