We have been through last night's videos of Nightshift in the nest boxes. Apologies for all the rain on the cameras. This is her arriving. After a wander through the water, she goes into 9c, which was her main home.
Inside 9c, she makes a quick inspection of the renovation work and settles down for a nap. We used to use hay for bedding, but we are trying barley straw this time. We wonder if she can tell the difference. Hedgehogs do seem to be quite careful how they build their nests and Nightshift would rearrange hers every few days, but if it is just somewhere for a nap they do not seem to care. We have put a small pet blanket in as well. A lot of the hedgehog carers websites and forums say they use blankets and that the hedgehogs seem quite attached to them, so we thought we would give it a try. We put one in 9d when Nightshift was preparing it as a nursery and she seemed to like it.
After her nap she gets up for another snack and makes a snap inspection of 9d, just to check it still meets her requirements, then returns to bed.
Then she gets up for a bit more exploring. This is where we saw Nightshift in a new light. No doubt due to the wet weather, we had seen a frog hopping around the patio earlier in the evening. This may be the little chap I rescued earlier in the week. Unfortunately for him, he chose to hop along the patio at just the wrong time. Nightshift chased after him. Not only that - she caught him! I never thought a hedgehog could move so fast. We peered out of the back door and there she was, tucking into a frog. She evidently does not like foreign food as when we checked this morning there was a fine pair of frogs legs, unfortunately along with a large part of the rest of him.
I keep hearing mutterings of "murderer" from across the table...
Showing posts with label frogs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label frogs. Show all posts
Thursday, 3 September 2009
Monday, 31 August 2009
A quieter night...
Last night didn't seem as busy as the night before, and Nightshift hadn't been by the time we went to bed, which is very unusual for her. The worrying starts when she's late or missing, as we have grown very attached to her over the past year.
Tina the baby goes from strength to strength, exploring more and more, although she wasn't on the patio for very long - she was exploring under the decking of the garden behind us. She really does seem to be full of energy and a really determined little thing:
Most of the other hedgehogs who visit have only explored a fraction of the garden she has. I think she'll be a very successful hedgehog as she seems to find lots of food in the garden besides what we put out. We just hope she doesn't get herself into a tight spot. It was nice watching her wandering along the garden wall a couple of nights ago - peering over the edge. She couldn't tell what was over it, so at least she didn't jump. She does the same with the garden steps - every night she climbs down the top, shallow, step and then peers over the edge. Unlike the wall, which she only visited once, she goes to the steps every night, as if she knows there is something there. We keep building up the steps a little, but apparently not enough for her to risk climbing down.
She also sniffed round the ATM a couple of times on her way in or out, something we've not seen her do before. The local cats do use the ATM at times, so maybe one of them left an interesting scent.
We also have one or more frogs or toads in the garden. The one I helped out of the plastic box earlier in the week is probably living here, but it is even more difficult to recognise individuals than it is with hedgehogs, and we still can't decide whether it was a frog or a toad. There was one on the patio last night, with its head sticking out from under 9b. Little Tina walked right over the poor thing! Checking the video captures this morning we found a great clip - a direct hit on the water bowl. You can just see the eyes arriving on the left of the screen before it jumps.
Tina the baby goes from strength to strength, exploring more and more, although she wasn't on the patio for very long - she was exploring under the decking of the garden behind us. She really does seem to be full of energy and a really determined little thing:
Most of the other hedgehogs who visit have only explored a fraction of the garden she has. I think she'll be a very successful hedgehog as she seems to find lots of food in the garden besides what we put out. We just hope she doesn't get herself into a tight spot. It was nice watching her wandering along the garden wall a couple of nights ago - peering over the edge. She couldn't tell what was over it, so at least she didn't jump. She does the same with the garden steps - every night she climbs down the top, shallow, step and then peers over the edge. Unlike the wall, which she only visited once, she goes to the steps every night, as if she knows there is something there. We keep building up the steps a little, but apparently not enough for her to risk climbing down.
She also sniffed round the ATM a couple of times on her way in or out, something we've not seen her do before. The local cats do use the ATM at times, so maybe one of them left an interesting scent.
We also have one or more frogs or toads in the garden. The one I helped out of the plastic box earlier in the week is probably living here, but it is even more difficult to recognise individuals than it is with hedgehogs, and we still can't decide whether it was a frog or a toad. There was one on the patio last night, with its head sticking out from under 9b. Little Tina walked right over the poor thing! Checking the video captures this morning we found a great clip - a direct hit on the water bowl. You can just see the eyes arriving on the left of the screen before it jumps.
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