Wandering Hedgehogs ?

[Don Mason]

Hello all,

Does anyone know how to prevent hedgehogs from wandering off?

On Sunday we took delivery of two hedgehogs, both about 4 months old, one of each sex, from a recognised hedgehog sancturary in the midlands.

Our garden has a large 'woodland' area which is ideal for wildlife of all kinds and particularly for hogs. Full of slugs, snails and other goodies.

During the previous week we spent well over £100 on new fencing, etc to fill any gaps and to ensure that the entire area was completely enclosed. We also bought a professionally made hedgehog box from a wildlife association.

When we introduced the hogs they both immediately went into their box and seemed to settle down well.

By the following morning (Monday) the big (1 kilo) male hog had completely disappeared and has not been seen since. The female was however asleep in the hedgehog box.

Monday evening at feeding time we put down some meat scraps and after a while the female came out and ate them, then took a drink of water which we had provided and went back into her box. Still no sign of the male though.

By yesterday morning (Tuesday) the female had also completely disappeared.

We have scoured the garden and there is no sign of either of them. We cannot see anywhere they could have easily got out - all remains secure - and all around us is what could reasonably be described as ininviting hedgehog territory (roads, tarmac, neat lawns, etc. Only we have the large wooded area, so we feel it is unlikely that they would be tempted elsewhere.

Neither slept in the hedgehog box last night and they have for all intents and purposes vanished into thin air.

As we have not tried keeping hedgehogs before we are very concerned and wonder whether anyone could offer any clues, comments etc as to where or why they might have gone. We are both obviously extremely upset at their almost instant disappearance.

It's not the money we spent which concerns us - simply the fate of the hogs, which we were hoping might help control our slug problem.

Anyone have any ideas please?

Don Mason
Nottingham

[ron1863]

If it's a really large garden then they have probably found somewhere safer to live within the wooded area. We have one that appears sporadically in our garden and it's walled, we don't know how it got in or if it gets out but it always seems to come back. I wouldn't worry too much about it though.

[Hedge Witch]

Hi,

Hedgehogs can dig under a fence or climb over it. I don't know of a way to stop them.

There is so much wild food at the moment that they may not want your offerings, tempting as they may be

And their territories are fairly large, around 8-9 normal gardens.

So I'm guessing it's fairly normal for them to want to go walkabout?

[Pam_M]

I wouldn't worry about the Hedgehogs. I have been having 4 or we think 5 hedgehogs visiting our garden for over 2 years now and this time of the year for some reason they do not come for the food and water that is put out for them. I suppose more natural foods are available for them. They will more than likely return for the food soon as they have done in the past. Then time for hibernation. Just keep checking for signs of them being around and if you suspect they have returned reintroduce the food. I always leave a bowl of fresh water out though as this is very important for them. We have 2 hedgehog houses that we will check on and clean out late Autumn ready for when hibernation starts.

Try not to worry, they are wild animals after all.

Good luck.

[paulinemiller10]

Originally Posted by Don Mason

Hello all,

Does anyone know how to prevent hedgehogs from wandering off?

On Sunday we took delivery of two hedgehogs, both about 4 months old, one of each sex, from a recognised hedgehog sancturary in the midlands.

Our garden has a large 'woodland' area which is ideal for wildlife of all kinds and particularly for hogs. Full of slugs, snails and other goodies.

During the previous week we spent well over £100 on new fencing, etc to fill any gaps and to ensure that the entire area was completely enclosed. We also bought a professionally made hedgehog box from a wildlife association.

When we introduced the hogs they both immediately went into their box and seemed to settle down well.

By the following morning (Monday) the big (1 kilo) male hog had completely disappeared and has not been seen since. The female was however asleep in the hedgehog box.

Monday evening at feeding time we put down some meat scraps and after a while the female came out and ate them, then took a drink of water which we had provided and went back into her box. Still no sign of the male though.

By yesterday morning (Tuesday) the female had also completely disappeared.

We have scoured the garden and there is no sign of either of them. We cannot see anywhere they could have easily got out - all remains secure - and all around us is what could reasonably be described as ininviting hedgehog territory (roads, tarmac, neat lawns, etc. Only we have the large wooded area, so we feel it is unlikely that they would be tempted elsewhere.

Neither slept in the hedgehog box last night and they have for all intents and purposes vanished into thin air.

As we have not tried keeping hedgehogs before we are very concerned and wonder whether anyone could offer any clues, comments etc as to where or why they might have gone. We are both obviously extremely upset at their almost instant disappearance.

It's not the money we spent which concerns us - simply the fate of the hogs, which we were hoping might help control our slug problem.

Anyone have any ideas please?

Don Mason
Nottingham

Hedgehogs are wild animals Don, they often wonder over two miles a night, they don t like being locked in one place, and will spend their night going up and down the fence looking for a hole to escape and may get trapped trying to get out, I would check all along the fence to make sure they are not stuck somewhere, best to make tunnels under the fence so they can come and go, if you leave food, water and a nice warm bed, they will return, they will remember the way back, they are not so hungry just now as there is a lot of live food about, but once it runs out, hoggy will return and expect his supper to be waiting, they will be very hungry while they are putting on weight for hibernation. Pauline.

[Thehedgehog]

I am very concerned by this entire matter
I run the Epping Forest Hedgehog Rescue Epping Forest Hedgehog Rescue - Home Page

No hedgehog rescue centre would knowingly give a pair of hedgehogs to be kept in an enclosed garden to be used as pest control. Expecting them to live entirely on slugs and snails is the quickest way to kill them. Further more it is extremely cruel to confine a pair of hedgehogs who will breed. The female cannot get away from the male and will be extremely distressed

Hedgehogs are wild animals & should always be free. You only keep a disabled hedgehog in a confined garden, not healthy fit ones

If you are convinced they can't escape from the garden then it means a predator has got in & taken them

It is extremely difficult to make a garden escape proof for hedgehogs and that is why we and all other Rescue centres have so much trouble finding suitable safe gardens for disabled hedgehogs

which centre gave you these hogs

they may well have decided to nest elsewhere in the garden

make sure you put down cat or dog food and cat biscuits in a safe place the hogs can get to as they will starve locked in a garden without being fed.

Although a hedgehog eats some slugs and snails, Their normal diet will only be about 5% slugs & snails , with caterpillars & beetles making up the bulk. Given a choice, a hedgehog will not eat slugs, except a few tiny ones, and will go for other food sources in preference.

Would you try to chew a slimy tough creature?

We exterminated all other insects from the gardens by paving, slabbing or decking our gardens and the way we spray with insecticides at the first sign of a bug or insect

We no longer grow native British plants so no butterflies or caterpillars
The only food a starving hedgehog finds in any quantity is slugs and snails who thrive in our damp climate and eat any plants

Slugs & Snails

Gardeners wrongly think having hedgehogs in the garden is all they need to keep the slug and snail population down.

* Hedgehogs mainly eat beetles and caterpillars not slugs and snails
* The idea that they only eat slugs and snails is very wrong. Only approximately 5% of their diet naturally will be slugs or snails.
* They will only eat slugs in any quantity when they are starving and no other food is available.
* A hedgehog that is forced to rely on slugs and snails will very quickly die. Offering a hedgehog additional food is the best for the hedgehog

Slugs and snails are the primary carriers for the lungworm which is the biggest killer of hedgehogs except for us and our careless behaviour

* When the lungworms breed inside the hedgehog they rapidly multiply, fill the hedgehog's lungs and the hedgehog either dies from drowning (Pneumonia) or bleeding from the lungs.
* Hedgehogs with lungworms have terrible breathing problems, are very thin and underweight, often have bad diarrhoea and will have secondary bacterial infections. Once the worms are well established the hedgehog coughs like an old smoker and gasp for air before dying in agony. Post mortem examinations often show the lungs as a solid mass with very little lung tissue left

Over half of all the hedgehogs brought into Rescue Centres or Wildlife Hospitals in Autumn and Winter die because of the damage the lungworms have done to them.

Pat Morris in The new Hedgehog Book (ISBN 1873580711) available direct from BHPS or Amazon.co.uk says:

There is usually a significant prevalence of lungworms in hedgehogs. They cause a type of pneumonia that is often fatal. Lungworms are a special kind of nematode worm and are often very widespread. They are very tiny (invisible without a microscope) but attack the lungs in large numbers. This causes the hedgehog to produce a lot of watery fluid in its air passages and breathing becomes very laboured. Once the worms have established the hedgehog wheezes and coughs as though it had smoked 40 cigarettes a day. Hedgehogs get these parasites as a result of eating slugs and snails within which the parasite larvae live.

There are 2 main types of lungworms prevalent in hedgehogs: Crenosoma striatum and Capillaria aerophila. It has previously been thought that lungworms mainly affected adult hedgehogs because the juveniles wouldn't have had enough time to be badly infested. We have found that almost all juveniles, especially the Autumn orphans will carry a very heavy parasite load and unless given treatment will die.

The way to prevent a lot of the infestations is to make sure you feed the hedgehogs in YOUR garden so they are not forced to eat slugs and snails. Once a hedgehog eats a slug it only takes 3 weeks before the lungworms are established in the lungs

[Don Mason]

Hi all,

Firstly thanks to all for the helpful and informative replies.

I think perhaps that I might not have explained our situation sufficiently in my original post and would seek to reassure those who have replied that we are very fully aware of the hogs welfare first and foremost.

The reason we 'fully enclosed' our woodland area is firstly that it is bordered on all sides by roads - and we were simply concerned about the possibility if the hogs getting themselves run over if they wandered out of it too often.

However, the 'fencing' is only a weak 'reed-screen' type and just 15 inches high and they would have no trouble getting through or under it if they really wanted to. It was really intended just as a basic deterrent.

Secondly, our 'woodland' area is big - several acres - and we reasoned that they would probably have sufficient room to do all the wanderings they wanted to within such a large area and that the habitat would be sufficiently attractive to them (with in truth very little attractive outside of it), that they would probably not want to leave anyway.

And do rest assured that we are not simply expecting them to eat slugs and snails (perhaps I over stated this one). Like all established woodland areas, ours is absolutely crammed full of beetles, caterpillars and just about every other kind of insect you might care to name, as well as the slimy things.

It also plays host to wild rabbits, the occasional fox (yes, I know), zillions of frogs and toads, equal zillions of mice, worms, together with the occasional vole, etc., etc.

It has lots and lots of trees, bushes and undergrowth of all kinds, ranging from extremely thick ground storey to quite thin coverage in places, so yes ............they could very well be hidden somewhere in there.

There are several small natural ponds, all with good 'exit' facilites for anything which might wander into them, so they would not get trapped in there.

For the record, we also put down plenty of other varieties of recommended types of food (and fresh water) for them each day - so please don't think we are expecting them to survive on slugs alone. Far from it. In fact, they are probably as well spoiled as any hogs anywhere.

It's just that we haven't actually had hedgehogs before (so far as we know) and in our beginners ignorance of hedgehogs we sort of expected them to return religiously to their 'hedgehog boxes' each day to sleep (that's what we were told and led to expect by the store when we bought the boxes) and we were simply worried that they seemed not to be doing so.

Reading this thread we now know that we were wrong to expect that.

The food certainly disappears well enough and there have been no signs of any foxes visiting since we got the hogs, so my guess, based on all your replies, is that they are probably still here someplace.

So thanks again for all the help.

- Don M

[Don Mason]

Hi again all,

In my post above, I forgot to add (and for the avoidance of doubt I perhaps should make it clear), that our woodland is totally organic. No pest or weed control chemicals, or slug-pellets, etc., have ever been used in it in the 20 years we have lived here.

So please also rest assured on that score.

- Don M

[Hedge Witch]

Hi Don - I want to be one of your hedgehogs

- that place sounds idyllic - you are lucky

Well done for doing all you are doing for these and the other creatures in your plot.

Best wishes with it all.

HW

[nightshade]

If you put the hedgehog food under a heavy tile or flagstone supported firmly on bricks it would reduce the likelyhood of foxes etc. eating it (ratty may still get to it though)
I have a book (but no hedgehogs alas) called
The Natural Hedgehog by Lenni Sykes and Jane Durrant 2005 by Bounty Books