Hedgehog Woe!!!!

[BobE]

I was hoping to be able to rehouse a hedgehog here in the New Forest... Bought a wireless camera so we could watch what's going on in the box....
Then the knowledgable lady at CRASH told me that she could not let us have one 'cause the badgers that we feed would eat it..
Do badgers really prey on hedgehogs....?
We're in almost an acre and have all the usual forest creatures around but no Hedgehogs which seems a pity... Mind you when we first came here, back in the 60's, we had deer in the garden but even they cannot jump the neighbour's Cyprus Lawson things!!!
So now I've a spare cam!! Spose I'll have to get another blue tit box... The Sparrow Hawk will be grateful!!!!

Cheers Bob E....

[mh68]

Hi Bob, welcome to the site

Yes, unfortunately Badgers are one of the few predators of hedgehogs.Sounds like a nice area where you live though, with all that wildlife on your doorstep.

Mark H

[Dogghound]

Yes i second what mark say's badger's will predate hedgehogs. They have powerful jaw's and strong clawed hands that make easy work of a curled up hedgehog. Although hedgehog is not their main diet (mainly earthworms), they are opportunists.

[mystic meg]

HI, Ican see this being used by Defra as another excuse to cull badgers! I am going to stick up for Brock here. Their main diet is worms, as they have to endure our weird weather, they have to find food to match weather conditions, so when there is a very dry spell you can bet your life poor old brock is having a lean time, as they are very much opportunist feeders if a hedgehog stepped out in front of them then yes ofcourse he will attempt to eat it, but he's not going to go all out for a hedgehog hunt. As you are already feeding badgers why on earth would they want to eat a hedgehog!

[mh68]

Originally Posted by mystic meg

HI, Ican see this being used by Defra as another excuse to cull badgers! I am going to stick up for Brock here. Their main diet is worms, as they have to endure our weird weather, they have to find food to match weather conditions, so when there is a very dry spell you can bet your life poor old brock is having a lean time, as they are very much opportunist feeders if a hedgehog stepped out in front of them then yes ofcourse he will attempt to eat it, but he's not going to go all out for a hedgehog hunt. As you are already feeding badgers why on earth would they want to eat a hedgehog!

Youre absolutely right Meg, Badgers dont go out of their way to "hunt" hedgehogs but they`ll happily take one if the opportunity arises and other food is scarce (as you rightly state). I think the only mammal they actively predate upon at certain times of the year are new-born rabbits while still in the warren. Theres a rabbit warren adjacent to a large badger sett at one of the sites I visit where the badgers annihilate the rabbits at certain times, digging into the breeding stops to take them.

Mark H

[coasty]

I have personally witnessed badgers eating a hedgy although not sure if it caught whilst alive or scavanged it.. I have also watched badgers eating our native crayfish by rooting them out from under stones so they are no respector of rarity ....

[mystic meg]

It's a 'dog eat dog ' world out there. I've taken in fox attack hedgehogs with nasty bite wounds usually to the skirt area, you can imagine how quick a fox's attack would be and just manages to injure rather than eat it I managed to nurse 1 back to health, but it took a long time.
Have you seen how badgers scoop out bumble bee nests, they literally just scoop it out to get to the sweet reward, and because of their tough skin maybeeeee! (sorry couldn't resist that one) don't get stung.

[mh68]

Funny you should mention bees nests Meg, last time I was at the site I mentioned a very large wasps nest had been dug out by badgers, but light was poor so I couldnt get a pic.Judging by the size of the excavated hole they must have had a pretty good feast

Mark H

[mystic meg]

Hi,
If we take in any injured badgers and they lose their appetite which is very common, they can go for a week before without food. So you have to tempt them to eat, we have been known to make them honey sandwiches, wholemeal ofcourse!

[tufftie]

A Lot of it depends on the weather conditions for the year. On average their diet consists of about 50% earthworms (average estimate about 20,000 in a year) but this can be higher if we have a wet year and less in a dry one. A further 25% is divided evenly between insects and grains.about 7% each of mammals and fruit / nuts and the remainder other foods. However if they live near a garden where birds and in particular squirrels are fed the nut percentage gets higher because peanuts are a second favorite to worms.

If badgers come in to your garden on a regular basis there is nothing you can do to keep them out - my neighbour has tried just about everything but they still come in. Ours are very tame and come right up to us we feed them a badger mix and the odd digestive biscuit as a treat. Personally I would have thought it should be okay but...