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The garage conversion starts on Monday and I’ve just discovered a hedgehog at the back, under some old carpet that I’m supposedly taking to the tip, today.
I know there are some nature lovers on here so any advice would be great.
I’d rather not harm it, obviously but it has to go by tomorrow evening at the latest.
Have you got time or space to put something like this in the garden?
https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/actions/how-build-hedgehog-home
My kids have built one of these but no signs of a hedgehog yet.
If no time to rehome it then I think it'd be fine if you pop it under a hedge and some leaves.
Edit: just read the post below and yeah it might be hibernating so now not sure about just putting it in a hedge...
I would have thought that it was hibernating so I don't know if it's as simple as keeping it in a box of straw (although you'll obviously need to remember that it's there next Spring).
Another option might be a local wildlife sanctuary/charity.
you could build a house out of bricks with a paving slab roof
Leave some dry leaves and/or bits of fleece etc for building a nest/insulation
I havent seen mine for a week so they may be hibernating now
and wear some thick gloves.
they like cat biscuits
We adopted a rescue hedgehog, that has been living in our garden for a year or so now.
percy is blind, so wouldn’t survive in the great outdoors. He lives a pretty happy life with us.
but… he isn’t hibernating yet, so you may have time. As mentioned, if you can get hold of house for the spiky guy, then put it somewhere in the shade and let him move in.
otherwise there might be a local rescue centre that can give advice or let him in.
ultimately, try keep it around, they are great for eating the slugs in your garden!
Hedgehogs are still active up here in NW Scotland. Plenty of information on hedgehog boxes online - particularly to stop foxes and badgers getting to them
Hedgehogs are still active up here in NW Scotland
And in SE England. OP if you're going to move it, find/make a spot with suitable cover but don't disturb its current nest until shortly before dusk, then put it in/by the new place. If you disturb it during the day it'll likely stay active which isn't their natural rhythm, so moving it before dusk is less of an issue. For added points stick some food out for it too - dry cat/kitten food works OK for ours.
@v7fmp
Full Member
We adopted a rescue hedgehog, that has been living in our garden for a year or so now.percy is blind, so wouldn’t survive in the great outdoors. He lives a pretty happy life with us.
That's amazing. Got and pics of the little guy?
Where are you based OP? My mum has contacts at a rescue centre and her garden is use FB as a release point for ones being sent back to the wild. She’s in West Yorkshire.
(The) Problem solved (itself). It quite unexpectedly took off at high speed, straight past me and across the road. I’ve ripped the carpet out and the garage is now completely empty so I think it will be very disappointed if it comes back.
(The) Problem solved (itself). It quite unexpectedly took off at high speed, straight past me and across the road. I’ve ripped the carpet out and the garage is now completely empty so I think it will be very disappointed if it comes back.
Yeah, they do that! I’ve had one older regular ‘hog who’s so used to me going out to sort out the food that it’ll sit on one of the plates while I clean and fill the other two, then I actually have to scoop it up and put it on a full plate while I finish the last one and return it and put the lid on the box, while it’s happily scoffing the food. The other ones will sit there until my back’s turned then bugger off.
They don’t have one fixed sleeping place, they might have quite a few wherever they happen to be at a given time, because they can cover several kilometres a night.
I’ve got two sleeping boxes in the garden, one at each end of my cypress hedge, and when I cleaned them out, both had been used. ‘Hogs will often be active throughout the winter if it’s relatively mild, I’ve seen their footprints around the feeding station even when there’s been snow on the ground - they know there’s plenty of food available, they don’t have to expend energy looking for scarce resources so will come out for food then back into the sleeping box; it’s only about a metre away.
As you’ve found there’s one about, it wouldn’t hurt to get a sleeping box, put a load of hay, straw or shredded paper inside and put it somewhere quiet and out of the way, but near a likely ‘Highway’; they have regular routes in and out of the garden, I know the ones mine usually use from the neighbours either side, but it certainly won’t hurt to give them another warm dry place to sleep.
Also, look into setting up a feeding station - one of those plastic storage boxes turned upside down with the lid on the ground, with a 5cm hole cut either side just above the edge, and two or three dishes for food, and a couple more outside for water.
Food is a bit trial and error, mine poo’d on the cat meat I put out, ate the dog meat with jelly, but pushed the jelly to one side, but they liked the plates clean of the dog meat in gravy. They love cat kibbles with creamy centres, and they really love calciworms. Don’t put out mealworms, they’re not good for hedgehogs, they prevent them processing potassium.
It’s not unusual for there to be three hedgehogs in my garden at a time, I’ve had six on occasion. They need a lot of help, and it’s rewarding to be sat out in the garden on a warm summer night and have them snuffling around - I had one underneath my chair one night, it had my sock in it’s teeth, tugging away at it! Jo, my late partner was sat outside having a cigarette and one climbed onto the top of her fluffy slipper and sat there quietly for several minutes.
This is my old feeding station, I now use a single box, it’s easier to deal with. And yes, there are four hedgehogs there.
^^ I'd love to have that sort if interaction.😄
Ive only seen one (live) hedgehog in my life and it was poorly. I took it to a vet and I called the next day to hear they had to put the poor little thing down.
We have a couple that eat from our cats (outdoor) food bowl. The most regular one is called spike. When we first saw them we were worried they'd not last long as one of our cats is a feline grim reaper but strangely.isnt interested at all. I've seen them all eat from the same bowl!