Hedgehogs and other wildlife in our garden in the Chilterns
Monday, 16 November 2009
One year ago today...
...we saw a little hedgehog snuffling around outside the ATM in daylight looking for food. The little chap was too small to even climb the step into the garden, so we went out to check him over. He only weighed 290g, so we felt we had to rescue him and we took him in for the winter.
We dashed out and put a few mealworms down for him, which allowed us to pick him up with an oven glove and put him into a small cardboard box, so we could get him into the house and check him over.
Here he is in the temporary box with a little blanket, some mealworms and some water:
We were just wondering how your little lads were coming along. It has been quite mild all along but it is turning cold again. We hope they're both doing well. We hope all our hedgies are all bedded down safely as we haven't seen any of them since the start of this month.
We took advantage of the mild weather and forecast last Sunday to release them, having been hardening them up a bit in the garage for a few days before that. Harry weighed 642g, and Tictac 728g. Both went into a straw lined house in our back garden. And I'm afraid that's the last we have seen of them. I keep watching the food bowl every night, but no sign (mind you, we have had a few horrible wet and windy nights here recently). Trying hard to resist the temptation to lift the house lid to see if either of them are still there...
Not seen any others either since the night I found Tictac.
Update - temptation got the better of us in a rare dry post this afternoon. Carefully lifted the lid - there are two hedgehog-sized mounds of straw in the box. Not 100% sure if anyone is in them, but the entrance hole seemed warm...
Hi Kevin Thanks for the updates. We hope the two lads are still in there. You have certainly improved their chances.
We think Indy is still in 9f, but we can't be sure he didn't sneak out. We have resisted the temptation to open 9f, mainly because it's quite awkward to get into and we would stand a good chance of disturbing him. We'd also be upset if we found he wasn't in!
Twosie was a late baby we saw wandering past the garden during the day in November 2008. Seeing him during the day was a sign something was wrong, so we dashed out and picked him up. He seemed healthy, but only weighed 290g (the safe minimum for hibernation is 600g.) We felt we had to look after him for the winter. We fed him and he gained weight - he topped 800g. Unfortunately, towards the end of January, he stopped eating. He started losing weight. We tried tempting him with all sorts of goodies. Finally, we took him to Tiggywinkles Wildlife Hospital. They cared for him for three weeks, but the poor little guy didn't make it. This site is for Twosie and all the other wonderful little hedgehogs .
He looks absolutely gorgeous - like an even smaller version of "our" two.
ReplyDeletePoor little thing. It's no time of year to be a little hedgehog.
ReplyDeleteHi Kevin,
ReplyDeleteWe were just wondering how your little lads were coming along. It has been quite mild all along but it is turning cold again. We hope they're both doing well. We hope all our hedgies are all bedded down safely as we haven't seen any of them since the start of this month.
Hi Twosie,
ReplyDeleteTo be honest, I don't actually know :-(
We took advantage of the mild weather and forecast last Sunday to release them, having been hardening them up a bit in the garage for a few days before that. Harry weighed 642g, and Tictac 728g. Both went into a straw lined house in our back garden. And I'm afraid that's the last we have seen of them. I keep watching the food bowl every night, but no sign (mind you, we have had a few horrible wet and windy nights here recently). Trying hard to resist the temptation to lift the house lid to see if either of them are still there...
Not seen any others either since the night I found Tictac.
Is Indy still hibernating at your place?
Update - temptation got the better of us in a rare dry post this afternoon. Carefully lifted the lid - there are two hedgehog-sized mounds of straw in the box. Not 100% sure if anyone is in them, but the entrance hole seemed warm...
ReplyDeleteSorry, I meant "dry spot"...
ReplyDeleteHi Kevin
ReplyDeleteThanks for the updates. We hope the two lads are still in there. You have certainly improved their chances.
We think Indy is still in 9f, but we can't be sure he didn't sneak out. We have resisted the temptation to open 9f, mainly because it's quite awkward to get into and we would stand a good chance of disturbing him. We'd also be upset if we found he wasn't in!
> We'd also be upset if we found he wasn't in!
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean. Hope he is still in there.