Baby hedghogs!(?)

[ollyk]

It's ok cos he is 6 months old now Only requires a midnight drink and I hate waking for that so I stay up!

So it is no problem at all!

[ollyk]

ok I have managed to get the weight of one hog it is 180g and between 5 and 6 inches long but this is not accurate (weight should be spot on though).

We have seen mum rush to and from the nest tonight and she has rendezvous with baby #4 in a garden over the wall (not sure how he got there as there are some serious steps up to negotiate). Anyway, I think mum is trying to get baby back to nest. She is constantly circling the baby, and the baby is demonstrating this coughing or snorting noise that I mentioned above. Baby is turning with mum as she is sort of pushing nose toward rear - it is like he is telling mum to get lost and not ready to come home. Been at this for over ten minutes now and they haven't budged an inch!
I am not sure this sound is anything to worry about the cat jumped down to investigate and there was silence for a good while.

I got quite a bit on IR video (so as not to disturb) so might upload to youtube tomorrow.

As for tonight, I think I am ready to throw in the towel now fairly happy that all is ok...?

[Hedgehoggy]

I missed your post by about 10mins last night! Well done on completing hog task no.1

180g suggests hoglets are approx 5 weeks old, and very, very curious about their outside world at this stage, hence no.4 trying to run before he can walk! There’s always one very adventurous one in a litter. If no. 4 is still separated from its siblings this morning, hog task no.2 is to don some gloves and bring him back – hoglet may not be able to get back up to your garden by itself if there are steep steps/obstacles to negotiate.

The snorting noises you heard last night between mum and hoglet are likely to be as you described, but if you manage to upload the recording to You Tube, I’ll take a listen anyway

Fingers crossed that I won't have to assign you hog task no.3!

[ollyk]

Hi HH well they were still at it 3/4 hour later!!! When mum finally disappeared into the hedge I took the opportunity to grab the little one, weigh and return to the nest. I wasn't entirely sure if that was the right thing to do but with us having foxes locally and not sure about it's safety I didn't think I was doing much harm. I doubt he would have got back to the nest anyway as the only way he could have got where he was would have been an adventure in itself!

Anyway hogglet was 220g so looks to be as you said the stronger of the litter(?).

I put hogglet back and it went straight past some food into the nest which is good

I am currently uploading the video so will link to it once it is completed!

I also took the opportunity to wake my six year old up at an ungodly hour and got her to help weigh the first hoggy last night. She seemed to really enjoy the experience and will be telling the teacher and friends all about it this morning

[ollyk]

That upload went quicker than I thought!

Mum and teen Hoglet in a late night dispute..? on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Forgot to mention not sure if the bird carcase had any bearing on this situation?

[Hedgehoggy]

Brilliant video The huffing-puffing noises are a perfect demonstration of protestation! The smell of the bird carcass is undoubtedly what lured hoglet no.4 there in the first place (hogs eat carrion too).

You did exactly the right thing by bringing hoglet no.4 back to safety. He thinks he’s ready to venture off into the big wide world by himself now, but his mum knows better. Judging by that video, it won’t be long before he does it for good, and then his siblings will follow suit.

Originally Posted by ollyk

I also took the opportunity to wake my six year old up at an ungodly hour and got her to help weigh the first hoggy last night. She seemed to really enjoy the experience and will be telling the teacher and friends all about it this morning

That was indeed a wonderful opportunity to share the experience with your daughter My 8yr old son has often helped me with the baby hedgehogs, but just recently he's been asking why I don’t rescue snakes and lizards too, because they’re ‘really cool’!!!!

[ollyk]

That's good to know thanks! I think we will lay off them a bit now but still keep an eye open - little worried about our local foxes (obviously not in a hysterical way!!!) but they have kept a low profile for some time now and I guess we can only do so much... Maybe their previous prevalence has been the reason we have never seen hogs in the 8 years of being here, now they have all but disappeared we have our first hedgehog...?
Regarding my daughter I am happy I woke her up for this despite being a school night. Not a regular opportunity!

Thanks for your help