Talkback: Where have all the hedgehogs gone? - Talkback

oldchippy

15/10/2012 at 16:45

Hello Adam,I haven't seen a hedgehog for years just an increase in wood pigeons crows and foxes.

Oldchippy.

Adam Pasco

15/10/2012 at 20:44

Oh yes, foxes. They're cunning creatures, and have infiltrated most areas I think. I haven't spotted them in my garden, but my neighbour has had their chickens slaughtered twice now. Senseless killings – more for play than food.

But there must be some hedgehogs around, surely?

Supernoodle

15/10/2012 at 20:51

There's a family living at the bottom of my garden. At least that's what my neighbour says - I haven't seen them.
Saw one on the pavement the other day - really weird - looked perfect but was dead.

Dovefromabove

15/10/2012 at 21:26

We've got hedgehogs visiting our garden every evening. When we had new fencing put up we got the builder to cut little archways in the fences so they can travel from garden to garden. We put food out for them, hedgehog biscuits, crumbled up peanuts, meal worms and a small amount of banana chips. Also a bowl of fresh rainwater from the water butt every evening. It's always all gone in the morning. We also have a bought hedgehog house and two homemade ones - we've left piles of hay and leaves etc around and the hedgehogs are collecting them and making warm nests in the hedgehog houses

We;ve had no bother from slugs in the garden this year

Adam Pasco

15/10/2012 at 21:31

How sad, Supernoodle. I wonder what had happened to it?

And great to hear you have a content family of hedgehogs in your garden, Dovefromabove (I wonder where that name came from). Count yourself incredibly lucky that you've had no bother from slugs this year. My garden is breeding giant mutants!

Sherry Orchard

15/10/2012 at 21:32

Hello Adam,I live in south devon so there should be lots of wildlife here.For many years and last year i had a family of hogs living in the garden but im very sad to say this year i have only seen one. Have seen many dead in the road. Also see more badgers then usal dead on the roads. it is all very sad and is not a good start to the day.

Dovefromabove

16/10/2012 at 07:09

Hi Adam - re slugs - we get huge orange slugs, but as they (apparently) eat very little living vegetation, and as they (apparently) eat other slugs, we leave them alone. Earlier this year (late summer) we found pairs of them curled around each other on the damp lawn, doing what comes naturally! As slugs are hermaphrodite I can only assume (i) that we have a big enough population to allow sexual reproduction, and (ii) they enjoy it . Anyway, we moved to this garden 12 months ago. It had been long neglected, but as we found very few slugs other than the big orange ones http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcROH4V2t7DSD5vI6GEA_cBDwBrVlm0dKEYiRmKqUaw5ocLD8YuRfw we've tried to leave the ecology of the garden as unchanged as possible and have left these big slugs alone.

We've grown lots of veg and perennals (including lettuce and delphiniums and hostas) this year with virtually no slug damage.

flowering rose

16/10/2012 at 13:35

I have noticed a decline in my area mainly due to traffic and gardens being turned to grit or house extensions.When I here 34 years ago hedgehogs were common sight and all manner of wild life,but a lot were being killed on the road (it use to be a safe quite road alas no more)and their habitat taken over and of course the way people garden .Foxes also are declining due to the cubs being knocked down there was a high number killed by cars last year(I saw this as a nurse walking to work in the early hours of the morning)also on the common allot of the birds I use to see gather there in winter do not.We are blessed with a woods and wildlife but not quite as it use to be.I have seen the decline in hedgehogs and cant remember the last time I saw one.

Dovefromabove

17/10/2012 at 19:49

The low temperatures this spring and summer have been hard on a lot of young animals and birds - it may be that few have survived ths year. Let's hope that those who did are fit enough to survive the winter, and we'll hope for better weather next year.

jo4eyes

18/10/2012 at 17:14

I've spotted some fresh 'hog poo' in the garden today.

I know that we have one that visits & daughter got a photo of it one night when returning from her work- did she have to wake her parents up at 2-3am to show us?!!

Unfortunately we still have loads of slugs, but am reluctant to even use the organic pellets with the hedgehog being around. It cant get under our fence, but it can the side gate & has been spotted by neighbours going down the adjacent alleyway to the open ground behind us.

I too have seen several dead badgers at the roadside this year. J.

Susy B

18/10/2012 at 19:12

A couple of weeks ago we found a half grown hedgehog in the morning when opening the curtains, so we fetched it in the kitchen, put it in a box with a warm hot water bottle, as instructed by the local Wildlife Rescue lady. When it warmed up a little we gave it water ( have a photo on mobile but don't know how to transfer it ) later I took it to the rescue centre and am hoping it has survived

Dovefromabove

18/10/2012 at 20:21

Well done Susy B. Fingers crossed he's a happy healthy hoggy now

Caz W

18/10/2012 at 21:05

Good job you did there susy b - I'm sure the resuce centre will have sorted him out by now.

BikerBabe

18/10/2012 at 21:16

Hi Adam,

Its the same here in Halifax, we used to have lots of hedgehogs rambling about. I used to love watching the young hedgehogs tumbling around following their mum accross the garden. This year we have not seen any!

We have frogs, but not as many as previous years!

The slugs are definately on the increase, as are the wood pigeons! ?

Kind regards

Margie

Adam Pasco

18/10/2012 at 21:57

Thanks for all your comments.

Now BikerBabe, how do we encourage the wood pigeons to eat the slugs?

MarilynSmith

18/10/2012 at 22:20

Sorry to disagree about foxes, they kill what is available at the time with the intention of taking them away and burying them to dig up later when food is scarce. A bit like us filling our freezers! They don't usually have enough time to get them all away before being disturbed. Agree with you about the hedgehogs and pigeons, though.

Boomer2

19/10/2012 at 00:18

Hello Adam. I too have noticed a decline in numbers of hedgehogs in my garden this year, although I think the shrinking numbers started last year.I was away for ten days on holiday, and upon my return the number of hedgehog visitors had dropped dramatically. I can only surmise it was because their usual plentiful supply of food, courtesy of myself, was no longer available. This year, although numbers were well down, when I went on holiday in September I asked my nextdoor neighbour to feed them in my absence. This seemed to work and I hope that they have all have gained enough weight to see them through their hibernation.

Beaverscout

Welshonion

19/10/2012 at 01:34

Badgers eat hedgehogs and ground-nesting birds, and wasp nests in roadside banks.

lily49

19/10/2012 at 13:44

I have a garden full of hedgehogs!

Most of them, sadly, have legs damaged from garden strimmers.

I have a webcam, and put it our most nights, next to the bowls of hedgehog and fox food.
Many nights, the bowls are shared by both animals, with the occasional cat passing through!

Matthius3k

19/10/2012 at 14:31

I use to have one or two hedgehogs visiting my garden the whole of last year for food but this year i not seen one since March and i not seen any around at night anywhere i walk around amesbury. Hopefully they do return as i built a house for them to sleep in or to get out the rain.