Monday 5 April 2010

Visitors...

We had friends visiting us over Easter, so unfortunately we haven't been updating the blog, even though the hedgehog activity has been increasing. We still left food out for the hedgehogs, so they were looked after, but we haven't been checking the videos in detail.

We did capture our first "over day" stay of the year, in 9a, the nest box on the lawn. When the hedgie appears he nibbles a leaf and then anoints himself before going into the nest box. We haven't caught a hedgehog self-anointing on video before. The nest box is under a bush so it looks quite dark, but it was daylight when he arrived. He then came out after dark and disappeared into the garden.



We haven't worked out which hedgehog is which yet, due to the usual identification problems, although this one seems to have a distinctive white forehead.

Indy is still living in the boiler room, in 9f (left), the other nest from where he was hibernating. We have seen him come out of the nest, do a lot of sniffing in the hall and then go back to bed again. He does finally come out for a snack, but we saw him come as far as the hall four times in one night before he finally came out. It's probably still a bit chilly for him, as it's only about 8 degrees at the moment.

We are getting about five or six visits each night, although we don't quite know how many different hedgehogs there are.

Still no sign of Nightshift - we hope this just means she's still hibernating.

None of the hedgehogs have gone down onto the patio yet, either, so they still aren't up to normal activity.

6 comments:

  1. A brilliant, clear close up video clip. So difficult to know where to position cameras as Hedgies don't seem to take any notice of stage directions ;)

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  2. That is an absolutely gorgeous hedgehog video. Anyone would have thought he was doing it all for our benefit!

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  3. Thanks John for your encouraging comments. We got some great shots on the tunnel cam last year. It seems to be a good location and the camera itself seems to be one of the clearest ones, even though it was one of the cheapest off Ebay.

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  4. Thanks GL.That is very kind of you. We were just so lucky to catch it.

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  5. Brilliant video! Is the white mark on the face natural, or where somebody has marked it?

    Unfortunately Uno has stopped using our house during the day since other hoggies emerged. He used to look so relaxed in it as well. Has had a couple of fights with other hoggies over it since, but none stay for too long. We seem to have at least six visiting each night now, but no sign of Harry or Tictac...

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  6. Thanks Kevin. As regards the white marking, we are not sure. We have not marked any as yet. It could be a marking made by some one else in the area - we just do not know.

    We are sorry to hear about Uno and also that Harry and Tictac are not around at the moment. We feel though that the situation will change as the month progresses. Our visitors also seem to be a little behind all the other hedgies. We have not seen any squabbles here so far. They all seem to wander around on their own and seem to be still in "discovery" mode ... at least, so far, that is.

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