We were very excited last night to get our first sighting of Indy in 9f, as he zipped from 9f (right) where he had been hibernating for almost five months, into 9f (left).
Later on he nipped out for a quick snack of mealworms. He must be very hungry, so we were surprised he wasn't eating for so long, but we suppose it takes a little time to get his little body fully operational after being shut down for so long.
This was actually his second excursion, and he made a third one later in the night:
Just after he went into hibernation we put an extra camera inside the boiler room, but never had anything to test it on. We found last night that it wasn't very well positioned, so we changed it today, so it now looks across the whole front of 9f, inside the door.
We were rewarded with this lovely shot of Indy coming out of 9f (left) and having a good sniff. He obviously wasn't too happy with what he smelled, because he turned round and went back to bed. Hopefully he'll be out later for a good meal.
Hedgehog activity is slowly building in the back garden, although most of it is concentrated around the ATM - none have ventured onto the patio yet.
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I think you are right in thinking it takes a while before they are eating normally. I have seen the same here. The first few nights snacking was quite brief but it is increasing now. I guess their metabolism takes a while to come out of hibernation mode.
ReplyDeleteThanks John. With the forecast for the next few days being for cold weather again, we hope they do not disappear again while this spell lasts. We've also been delighted to be reading on your blog that your hedgies (both Henry and his pal) have also returned.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't worry about them disappearing for the cold now. Uno, who has been visiting us (and living with us a lot of that time) since the beginning of March was quote happily munching in temperatures of -1 some nights.
ReplyDeleteI had the opposite. They ate as much as they could when they first emerged from hibernation, but now they are leaving food.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if they might be wandering a bit further afield to see what other options there are.
They might not disappear - Uno was happily eating outside at -1 earlier in the month.
ReplyDeleteHi Kevin, perhaps it is the Hedgehog Bites you get for them that has them thoroughly addicted now, so they don't notice the cold temperatures ;)
ReplyDeleteHi GL, we think you could be right. Our visitors do seem to be calling specifically for the food and then turn around and go back the way from which they came, which would suggest they are using it as a known source of food while they do appear to be looking elsewhere as well to build up their new "2010" food map.
ReplyDeleteI should also say that Uno stuck very close to us to start with, but all we get now is occasional visits from him and very rare stays in the house during the day.
ReplyDeleteWe are putting mealwormss on top of the bites now, and the first hoggie to the bowl seems to snuffle up the mealworms first!