Where have all the hedgehogs gone?

[Boddie]

Actually milk is an horrendous foodstuff for humans but we are all encouraged to drink it. It is by far and away one of the biggest causes of allergies in humans.

It is simply not natural to drink another animals milk. Dont get me wrong, I do, but I can tell you as a fact that milk is not 'good' for human consumption.

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by catalaze

Oh dear, Eeeore, have a nice thistle, do. "Appear to attribute" isn't an insult, you just didn't say outright that you DID attribute the comments to them.

Actually i did say explicitly that the information had come from them, twice! once in post 23 and once in 25.

Originally Posted by catalaze

You don't believe milk is a perfectly good food. The evidence I've seen says it is. End of story.

The british hedgehog preservation society http://www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk also say that water is the best thing to offer to drink - and they acknowledge pat morris as the source of their info so perhaps his findings were not so clear cut after all.

It might be fairer to say that the evidence you have seen suggests it is while the evidence I have seen, including work from the foremost hedgehog treatment centre in the Uk, vets, doctors, and animal welfare experts, suggests it isnt. nuff said.

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by Boddie

Actually milk is an horrendous foodstuff for humans but we are all encouraged to drink it. It is by far and away one of the biggest causes of allergies in humans.
.

Presumably we are encouraged to drink it because we don't get enough calcium in our diet from other sources in our childhood and teenage years, particularlly if we are eating proccesed junk, which wouldnt have been the case in primoridial society when we were evolving.

however this is not true of hodgehegs, as they do get the calcium they need through their natural diet, principally from eating snails.

[derekmc]

It's been interesting reading the previous posts, as this year I've seen more hedgehogs locally (in West Reading) than ever before.

I've a feeling that - like Wild-Woman mentioned in an earlier post - their absence in the past had more to do with the so-called "nature lovers" who lived a few doors from us, but who still insisted on covering their garden with slug pellets, or cutting their back lawn to within an inch of its life and then covering it with chemicals to make it grow again. I'm still trying to work out the logic of that one!

This couple moved away about 18 months ago, and our new neighbours don't use slug pellets. I don't think it's a coincidence that we now have up to 5 hedgehogs coming into our back garden at any one time. Watching them interact - with hissing, snuffles and reverse shuffles whenever they met on our back garden - is a real pleasure, and Cathy and I feel priviliged to have been given an insight into their world. Hedgehog Big Brother is much better than the TV version!

The use of milk seems to be getting a pretty mixed response in this thread. I must admit that we don't put this out for our visitors, but use Cesar dog food, a dish of water and a good handful of sunflower hearts scattered over the patio. it seems to work well - the hedgehogs look healthy, and the seeds are particularly popular.

Just out of interest, my wife (originally from South-West Scotland) always calls them "Fuzzy-Pegs" - anyone else have any unusual local names for hedgehogs?

Derek

[Fritillary]

eeyore wrote

Is milk beneficial to adult animals?
No, for the following reasons:
.......
7. Milk is an ideal medium for the proliferation of harmful bacteria in the stomach and intestines.

Do Hedgehogs like milk?
Undoubtedly, but we all like chocolate which is bad for our teeth.

Sorry but it doesnt look correct these things.

Ok milk is not beneficial to adult animals, but so why most of people drink milk as adults and they are not sick?

Say that chocolate is bad for teeth is wrong. It is the sugar that destroy the teeth. So if you eat a comercial bar of chocolate (full of sugar) and several times a day without washing your teeth, yes, you will loose them. Eat good chocolate (having elemental hygiene) as all food is healthy.

[speckled wood]

[quote=Fritillary]

Ok milk is not beneficial to adult animals, but so why most of people drink milk as adults and they are not sick?

QUOTE]

Many people smoke without apparent ill effects or discomfort but examination of their lungs and other organs might tell a different story, perhaps much the same with milk. I suffered no apperent ill effects from drinking milk but I stopped drinking it or having it is tea or coffee 25 years ago and I noticed the benefit almost straight away ..... minor digestive problems seemed to fade away, have rarely suffer "wind" since, same might not happen to everyone but it certainly happened to me. I stopped taking sugar with tea and coffee about 5 years earlier .... I had never suffered any apparent ill effects but again I felt the benefit. I was later to develop diabetes but that is another story.

[honeybee]

Originally Posted by wildone

They are being run over. I saw 2 early monday morning, dead on the side of the road and another this morning.

I see more run over than alive, is really upsetting. Also keep getting late babies which need rescuing. Cars mostly to blame also bad gardening, using slug pellets and chemicals. Paving or decking so animals can't get worms etc.

[honeybee]

btw i'm not vegan but I was for a few years and would like to be again. Dairy is bad for us end of story, it's not ment for us, milk is for baby cows not people. It's barely digestable. Cows were domesticated fairly recently in terms of human history and our stomachs aren't ment for it. It's just another billion dollar industry and a load of brainwashing to tell us it's good for us...I was perfectly healthy as a vegan but in todays society it's difficult to be one.

[Imaginos]

Originally Posted by catalaze

Milk is a good adjunct to the Hedgehog diet and also gives people a chance to see what is usually a rather secretive little mammal. I think everything I had to say is in my original post and anyone who wants to know more can read the Whittet book and/or look up the peer-reviewed literature on the subj.
.

Catalaze, I've been looking but can't find any peer-reviewed literature on the subject that endorses your point of view-could you give me some pointers?

Whilst searching I've found lots of references as to why milk is bad for hedehogs though...

[Jens]

I passed two flattened hedgehogs whilst walking up the brae to work today. This same stretch of road is the scene of much toad carnage, would the hedgehogs have been interested in run over toads for food? (I live in a very quiet village so the amount of road kill amazes me).