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Someone joined me last night imaging/observing...


StuartJPP

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Finally a hog...haven't seen one since March when they left the hog boxes...didn't want to disturb it too much so one quick shot with the mobile before going back to testing my kit. Put some dried mealworms out which I could hear him/her munching on and they are all gone this morning...good to seem them alive and not squished on the road.

Should have turn red-eye reduction on :)

Hope it survives!

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Nice pic, noisy little things aren't they? Normally make me think there is a bear approaching ;-). Not seen one for a long time though.

Have tweaked image and sorted the eye :-)

Stu

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Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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I love Hedgehogs :) it's a shame that you see so few these days.

We had one in the garden a month or two back, in fact we moved to a semi rural location, I'm really surprised how little wildlife there is around here. When I lived in built up Essex, we saw hedgehogs, foxes, badgers etc. I've been here for three years seen one hedgehog!

Ant

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Lovely picture-I like Hedgehogs! Unfortunately,I think I've seen more squished on the road this year than running around.On a brighter note-we seem to have an increasing Grey Squirrel population around our neck of the woods,and a brilliant Greater spotted Woodpecker in residence.

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Hi Stuart JPP,

It is indeed good to see them, so long as they are above approx 500 gms by this late in the year. I cannot tell from the picture if the hog is adult or

a hoglet from a second brood, but if a hoglet of 500 gms or less it will not survive the winter as it will have  insufficient reserves.

Over the past 10 years i Have over- wintered many young hogs and released them in April. :smiley:

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Thanks everyone...

Hi Stuart JPP,

It is indeed good to see them, so long as they are above approx 500 gms by this late in the year. I cannot tell from the picture if the hog is adult or

a hoglet from a second brood, but if a hoglet of 500 gms or less it will not survive the winter as it will have  insufficient reserves.

Over the past 10 years i Have over- wintered many young hogs and released them in April. :smiley:

Thanks April, over the past 3 or 4 years we have been monitoring the hedgehog population (even though we are far from rural) and weighing them when we can. Last year we had a big boy of 1200g as well as a couple of smallish ones who were taken to the hedgehog lady who overwinters them. I didn't want to grab this one just yet so as not to spook it. It looks healthy and probably about 500-600g compared to others I have weighed before, but I will grab it once it is used to retuning for some food. It has been back tonight but it was gone before I could get outside. I usually mark them on their backs to see if it is the same ones visiting.

We have got some boxes out so they may use them, they have done on and off in previous years. I am surprised at how much leaf litter they can cram into those boxes...watching them gather leaves is funny and also watching them anointing themselves. When we went to the hog lady the one time, she had a 160g little one, holding it in my hand was "special", especially when it started anointing itself...disgusting but cool at the same time.

Some people say you shouldn't feed them, my response is, people shouldn't have "clinically" clean gardens with no "mess" in them. No wonder a lot of people never see them. My cousin has about 12 daffodils in her garden spaced 1.2m apart and the grass is pristine (probably toxic with chemicals)...not quite conducive to any wildlife...but it looks "pretty".

Thanks for the advice...hopefully others see it and act on it.

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I will get a picture of the new Hedgehog eating, it can't more then 3" in length, it will need a mild winter......

As April says above, if it is less than 500g it probably won't survive. There are plenty of people who will overwinter them to give them a fighting chance...check online for hog "sancturies" nearby.

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A few winters ago, whilst quietly observing, a hoglet of about 400 gms ( weighed in the kitchen scales) wandered in , looking

for food in late November, I grabbed it and put in the winter sanctuary inside my Greenhouse with food and water. The following

night ( yes two consecutive observing nights!) two more arrived, and were followed later by a third, all 400gms' ish.

I kept the first and drove the other 3 to St Tiggywinkles. They never turn away hogs taken to them and I was astonished

to be told that they had so far received in excess of 500 underweight hoglets.

The one I reared that winter was released in April, with the healthy weight of 1.8kg.

They do make a lot of noise for their size though, but are always welcome at my observing sessions. :smiley:

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love the stories on this page about hogs, very heartwarming to know there are people on the lookout for them.

I have not seen one for a very long time where I am sad to say, however I do my bit for the birds by having a large, well stocked feeding station in the garden.

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love the stories on this page about hogs, very heartwarming to know there are people on the lookout for them.

I have not seen one for a very long time where I am sad to say, however I do my bit for the birds by having a large, well stocked feeding station in the garden.

That is how I first discovered the hogs in our garden...I had tucked some dried mealworms away on the ground under some shrubs for a Robin and it kept on getting polished off every night. Didn't take too long to find the noisy culprit munching on them.

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If they are wandering about in the snow or during the daytime it might indicate that something is up.

By the time it starts snowing they should have bulked up otherwise they won't survive the winter.

Although hogs can survive very cold temperatures, as they almost completely shut down their systems, they will still die if they don't have enough fat reserves.

As mentioned daytime hogs usually but not always indicates something is up. They are creatures of the night...much like us :) We'd draw suspicion if we were stargazing during the day...so should they.

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If they are wandering about in the snow or during the daytime it might indicate that something is up.

By the time it starts snowing they should have bulked up otherwise they won't survive the winter.

Although hogs can survive very cold temperatures, as they almost completely shut down their systems, they will still die if they don't have enough fat reserves.

As mentioned daytime hogs usually but not always indicates something is up. They are creatures of the night...much like us :) We'd draw suspicion if we were stargazing during the day...so should they.

So no one looks at the Stars in the day - the big yellow one - sorry Stuart couldn't resist.

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They run fast as well - too say they have short legs 

I saw one last week. My dog was outside doing her business and she bumped into one and started yapping like crazy. I had to intervene and cover the HH with a box to distract the dogs attention. Soon as the dog was out of the way i uncovered the HH and it took off across the street like a rocket.

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Just peeked outside and now there are two...one sat in the dish and the other trying to get at the food underneath the other one. Apparently sitting on the food is a common tactic to prevent others getting at it...

My ex wife had similar tactics  :grin:  :evil:

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We have a few round here there grunting can be heard on a night out ,there's a wood rather close to me and every other night a ghostly big white owl silently flys over the obsy a old wheel barrow with a couple a holes cut into and straw will give them a great overwinter home for the hogs

Pat

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