The Hedgehogs & Hoglets Thread

[posie]

Someone in my garden has been having a diarrhea for a few days. I reckon is either Muffin who's not used to the new diet of bugs or is the new male hog who's not used to cat food. I'm Milton'ing all the dishes because this smelly hog is pooping in the dishes!!! [/quote]

P'raps he's potty training...My hoggies in the hay barn paddle/wash their feet in the water, apparantly this is usual, so if you had a smaller dish p'raps the poo would drop over the side, we still change the water every day though,'cos I wouldn't want to have to drink the water I'd washed my feet in.

[Malx]

Hi all, especially Marcia since she asked!

I seem to have at least 3, or 4 hogs at present.

I installed CCTV in the HH canteen 22 days ago, and was learning shed loads for a week - but then the Infra Red LEDs packed up, so the education has stalled. I can now hear them eat, and then watch them scuttle away into the darkness. No more.

I accept that the faulty camera will need to be replaced when I can afford it.
I'd be happy to get an overdraft to get a camera system I'd be really happy with for a long time, but I don't want to spend the best part of £100(?) to get something inadequate which I'll need to update again in a year, and then every year thereafter....
I'm tempted to do a 'Big Brother' and build a new HH canteen - you know, cameras everywhere, etc etc. That way I'm sure I'll be able to know who's doing what, when etc. But I can't seem to find suitable technology on the market.

In case anyone doesn't realise, DO NOT buy a wireless CCTV system for a hedgehog house, because you almost certainly won't get a signal if the camera's placed LESS than a metre above the ground. Experience tells me this....

[Malx]

(Cont'd, really)
My little RED was the most regular visitor for a while, but I've been unable to monitor her pretty face since the camera went down. I have "Thirsty", who's male, and may have diabetes, a kidney deficiency or an intestinal problem that makes him drink a lot. [?] He clucks/ticks like a Geiger Counter while he's eating, so I can identify him via the microphone.
There's a large, male, silent eater who has appeared the last week and who's been spending time in my 1st HH house.
Somewhere out there is a lad I call 'Bully', who used to push little RED around, literally.

Wish I had proper CCTV though. The outdoor light's very limited.

[Malx]

Hope Spikey puts in an appearance soon, Marcia. Surely he'd trust you enough to mark him for easy reference?
Been looking in to this - everyone says to use nail varnish: 1) I'm a single bloke, and don't use it - not even at the weekend, honest! 2) How are you supposed to see nail varnish in the preferred hours of hedgehog activity, i.e. darkness? 3) Doesn't the smell of long-chain ethanols utterly stink, and stun the hedgie's precious nose for a whole day? 4) Wouldn't a white or infra-red paint be more practical? 5) surely a hi-vis paint, visible at night, might help protect the hedgie on the roads in his/her travels?

Just a few thoughts as I watch yet another hog fight breaking out on my patio....

[posie]

Originally Posted by Malx

Hope Spikey puts in an appearance soon, Marcia. Surely he'd trust you enough to mark him for easy reference?
Been looking in to this - everyone says to use nail varnish: 1) I'm a single bloke, and don't use it - not even at the weekend, honest! 2) How are you supposed to see nail varnish in the preferred hours of hedgehog activity, i.e. darkness? 3) Doesn't the smell of long-chain ethanols utterly stink, and stun the hedgie's precious nose for a whole day? 4) Wouldn't a white or infra-red paint be more practical? 5) surely a hi-vis paint, visible at night, might help protect the hedgie on the roads in his/her travels?

Just a few thoughts as I watch yet another hog fight breaking out on my patio....

Hi Malx, next you'll be wanting us girls to make all the hedgehogs little reflective jackets and safety helmets......... OK, go on then, give me the measurements then......Posie..

[Hedgehoggy]

Originally Posted by Malx

Been looking in to this - everyone says to use nail varnish: 1) I'm a single bloke, and don't use it - not even at the weekend, honest! 2) How are you supposed to see nail varnish in the preferred hours of hedgehog activity, i.e. darkness? 3) Doesn't the smell of long-chain ethanols utterly stink, and stun the hedgie's precious nose for a whole day? 4) Wouldn't a white or infra-red paint be more practical? 5) surely a hi-vis paint, visible at night, might help protect the hedgie on the roads in his/her travels?
Just a few thoughts as I watch yet another hog fight breaking out on my patio....

You mean to say you've never worn 'dry in 60 secs day-glo pink' nail polish? Seriously though, by the time the hog retreats back to his nest, any smell has long dissipated.

I only paint 3-4 spine tips for the sole purpose of not mixing up the hogs in my care and accidentally giving the wrong treatment to the wrong hog! These days I've been using acrylic paints, but Tippex is favoured by a lot of carers because it apparently shows up really well on night-time camera set-ups (whatever they're called! ).

Originally Posted by posie

Hi Malx, next you'll be wanting us girls to make all the hedgehogs little reflective jackets and safety helmets......... OK, go on then, give me the measurements then......Posie..

[Marcia]

My own humble tuppence opinion is that unless a hog needs special attention -- like in the example given by Hedgehoggy -- I'm not sure if it's necessary to mark every hog that comes across our path. We need to have in mind that if we make them more visible to us, we *might* make them more visible to predators too. But I could be wrong. Unless there's some evidence that painted hedgehogs are less likely to be run over, I'll let them be as nature has made them. Again, just my opinion.

Besides, if I ever find a dead hog I prefer not to know if was one of "mine"...