Can hedgehogs see red light?

[sharky620ti]

Hi all,

I'm hoping to get some photos of the hedgehog that i've recently discovered in my garden. I've heard that some mammals are unable to see red light. Does anyone know if hedgehogs can see this?

Chris

[Malx]

If you mean infra red, then no, it doesn't seem to bother them.

[mbaldw]

Hi Chris,

welcome to the forums. As a nocturnal mammal, colour vision is probably of no importance to hedgehogs. Retinographic studies have demonstrated that the hedgehog's retina is dominated by rod cells, with only about 4% of the retinal cells being cone (colour-sensing) cells. Konrad Herter was apparently able to train his subjects to distinguish yellow from shades of blue and grey, and it seems that any colour vision is blue-shifted (as it is for most terrestrial mammals). How hedgehogs actually interpret red objects is anyones guess, although presumably they see them as black. From personal experience, even if they can see Red light, I have never noticed them pay any attention to my torch when used with a red filter, even though the same animals would sometimes freeze when a white light was shone at them (presumably dazzled?).

Cheers,
Marc.

[nightshade]

I do not know if they can see red, but they can get quite Feisty

[sharky620ti]

thanks for that mbaldw vary helpful!

I've sat in the garden for about 3 hours for the past few nights but have not managed to see him/her... although i know there is 1 living in the hedgehog house.

I'll keep trying though... especially now i'm a bit more sure about my red filtered torch not being so much of a problem.

Thanks

Chris

[Malx]

Originally Posted by sharky620ti

I've sat in the garden for about 3 hours for the past few nights

!
Am impressed by your dedication, Chris, but not surprised your hedgie's not been out. They may be (almost) blind, but they're not daft!

If there was an animal 50 times heavier than you sat watching intently near your house, I'd like to think you'd sense/smell/hear it before you left your front door to go to work!

No offence, but you're bound to give off 'unusual' odours to an animal with a super-sensitive nose, and you will make more noise than you think!

I know I stink, for sure, and that most stranger-hedgies I've encountered wait at least 2-3 minutes until I'm well back in the house before they uncurl themselves.

I think you'd be better off staying out of the rain and buying a CCTV camera package rather than stalking a hyper-sensitive creature like a hedgehog.
I look forward to any footage from rainy Devon, though!

[sharky620ti]

lol, thats a fair point Malx although i always thought that hedgehogs were brave!

anyway... i have a new plan! i cant afford cctv, but i have ordered some basic electrical components to make a pressure sensor... so when he's feeding at his food bowl i'll be alearted by a buzzer or light in the house so i can then maybe go out and get a pic or 2 without spooking him too much.

[Malx]

Sounds interesting. Always tricky knowing when to look out for the elusive little urchins, and I think you've sorted that. I checked a certain specialist electrical retailer beginning with 'M' to see if they had any switches or sensors I could use for that purpose, but since I don't have a soldering iron and a degree in engineering I think I'm stuck...
I also tried buying several (long story...) of M's CCTV kits, but none did the job well enough. Funnily enough though, I'd bought a CCTV camera from L's (cheap German/European Supermarket) over a year ago as a project for the future. It was sat in the garage still, and I've just found it does the job brilliantly. At the time it was half price and cost me £14.99 or something (!), so don't give up hope just yet. It was one of those "once it's gone it's gone" sort of occasions, sadly.
It was made by a small German Company called Dexplan - the Forum Moderators may reasonably remove this, but if anyone can use the information to their advantage for watching wildlife, then good luck to them. (I have no connection with that Company...)

Not sure I'd say hedgehogs were "brave", Sharky.
Daft, foolhardy, silly, stubborn, greedy, careless... these are some of the adjectives I'd use of the little darlings!

[sharky620ti]

Ha ha!

Guess what?.... it worked! just before 8pm tonight the alarm in my lounge sounded so i quietly went out to see if it was him or the expected cat , it was the hedgehog and its HUGE!... i'm surprised it even fits in the house i made for it!... I hope its female.

I think it must have heard or smelled me as shortly after, it went back into its house.

The parts for the device only arrived today which i ordered from the 'auction site' from the same seller so combiding the postage... in total cost me about £4 delivered + some scrap bits of wood. M's wanted £3.50 for delivery alone.

I may well look into some kind of multi camera system at some point as i have a few bird boxes i wouldn't mind seeing inside... might leave it til next spring now though.

While writing this the alarm has gone off again.

I'm well chuffed

Lazy, cheating?.... i dont care... i've seen my hog at last

Chris

[Malx]

Happy days, Chris!

Hope it's all going well. For the record, my £15 CCTV camera has gone wrong, and mostly/occasionally only now plays AUDIO, as the Infra Red LEDs seem to have packed up...

But, I tell you it makes you concentrate a lot more, and I can now actually recognise my 2 regular hedgies from the way they eat into the microphone.....
Sad but true.

To be honest if the camera stays like that, I'll have to buy a new one - it's hard enough trying to differentiate a remote hedgie in B&W to start with. Otherwise how can you begin to understand the politics, the diet, the patterns, the problems etc etc.

HOGS. Hedgehogs now, Or Gone Soon.