The mystery of the disappearing hedgehogs

Hi - I put down bowls of dried mealworms and bowls of a nut/seed mix with the occasional raisin for the hedgehogs.  All Summer long they've been coming to my garden and bringing their young - it is not an exaggeration to say that there were often 5 or 6 in my little garden  at any time throughout the night.  Suddenly, a couple of nights ago, they have all stopped coming.  I have not even had one for the last two nights.  Is this normal behaviour?  It feels too early for them to be hibernating?  I am wondering if it is a natural phenomenon or whether something else might have caused it - for instance their route being blocked somewhere or (god forbid) someone putting down some poison somewhere?  Thanks 

I think that the family will have split up in the normal course of things and so scattered.

It's definitely not too eary to start hibernation. I'm in Warwickshire and some hedgehogs have been tucked away for some time now.

It also partly depends on individual hedgehogs, and how much weight they've put on during the Summer. Hedgehogs need a certain mimimum weight to last through the Winter, Mature hedgehogs will be heavier than young ones, so are able to go into hibernation earlier.

It's probably been a good year for fattening up on slugs.

My hedgehogs are still visiting the feeding stations, but they're also beginning to gather up leaves etc in potential hibernation spots.

Thanks everyone - it's a relief to hear that it's not too early to hibernate and we have definitely had some very cold nights here recently so perhaps that is it.  Definitely a good point that the family groups will have split up too.  They are definitely fat enough as well having visited my garden all Summer - what with all the mealworms, seeds, nuts and raisins, some of them were huge last time I saw them.  We also had lots and lots of males making the snorting noise trying to get the females to mate with them all Summer, so perhaps my garden was more like a pick-up joint for hedgehogs, and now the ladies don't want to breed anymore, the men don't both coming any more 

Hi Lunarz, even if you think the hoggies are no longer visiting please keep putting out food & water. This time of year there are Autumn juveniles who need to gain sufficient weight in order to hibernate properly and survive. They need to be approx 650g. Some hoggies will possibly start hibernating around now but many will wake throughout the course of winter and will need to find food easily. Dry cat biscuits, chopped peanuts, sunflower hearts, mealworms etc rather than meat as this will stay fresher for longer, also ensure the watererbowl doesnt freeze over.

As  Alina says, the family will no doubt have split up by now as hoggies are solitary creatures. Try leaving an area of your garden wild and provide twigs, straw etc for them and they could very well use the area to hibernate.

I currently have 3 hogboxes in my garden, 2 have had a hoggy in for the last few weeks and the 3rd will no doubt be discovered soon as it has only been in situ for a couple of days.

On another note, if you are building a bonfire, please either build it during the day it will be lit, or ensure you can check inside before lighting as this is an attractive site for hoggies to sleep and many hoggies die each year this way

Thanks kitiekat - I will carry on putting a couple of bowls of mealworms and seeds/nuts out throughout the winter and if they are still there untouched in the morning I will give that stuff to the birds and put another load out at night again.  I had heard that they can temporarily get up if it gets warm in winter and have a quick bite!  I did try and build a hedgehog house between the shed and the fence - I put a load of upturned logs at the edges and covered the top with large bin bags and covered the whole thing with soil.  I even sealed up the gaps in the fence with silicone but I haven't had a single hedgehog go in there - even if I put mealworms at the entrance.  Perhaps it is because I put straw in it and they don't like it?  Or perhaps they have better places to sleep as there are a lot of fields and natural hedgerows quite nearby.  What do you use for your hogboxes?  Do you buy them bespoke?

Hi Lunarz,

We've been leaving extra piles of peanuts on the grass for the hedgehogs all summer, it started because we noticed 3 of them hoovering up around the bird feeding station one night, we've had up to 5 that we've spotted at any one time, we made the decision last week not to put extra out now because it's getting a bit chilly in the evenings now and they maybe should be at least thinking about tucking themselves up for the winter. Working oon the theory that whilest theres still a high enery source of food freely available they might think twice,

Over the last couple of weeks the little ones have been spotted in the garden as we got home from work, around 6.30ish, we took it as a sign they where squeezing in as much as they can before hibernating. We haven't seen them at all this week. and there have been no little "presents" left on the lawn for us!..... although Horatio, the original big one was crashing around and bulldozing his way through the undergrowth last night without a care in the world, but I suspect it won't be long before he's tucked up too!

If there's a warm spell we'll add some extra out for them to get them through but as a greneral rule of thumb it's going to be a slug only diet from our garden with the occasional spillage from the bird table, assuming the cheeky squirrel doesn't get there 1st!

Now is not the time of year to stop putting out food for hedgehogs to make them think about hibernation.  They need it now more than ever if they are to put on weight.  Small hedgehogs seen out should be caught and weighed.  If they weigh less than 650g they need to be taken indoors, put in a warm box and given catfood and water and then got to a hedgehog carer as soon as possible.  They are unlikely to survive the winter on their own.  Its also worth knowing that slugs are not great fiends of hedgehogs are they contain a parasite than can be fatal to hogs.  That is why 'good food' is vital.  Cat biscuits are easy to provide.  Put in a covered area, slab on bricks would do they keep dry and it keeps the cats/foxes from eating them.  Water should always be available, they get very thirsty.

I would never argue what someone with the name "hoglady" writes but am interested in a couple of points

First the slug one-we are encouraged not to use slug pellets as hedgehogs are supposed to eat the poisoned slugs- despite quite a bit of evidence to the contrary-now you tell us that eating slugs will harm the hedgehog anyway-but that too seems to fly in the face of what everybody tells me-so perhaps you can explain a bit more?-I have to say this is news to me

How do they cope without us feeding them and is us feeding them such a great idea anyway-surely it all about fending for themselves?

Secondly-is it really wise to catch hedgehogs all sounds a bit traumatic for what is basically a wild animal and a young one at that-should we be interfering to that extent in nature?

As I say I am not disputing -just would like a bit more information

We used to have a lot of hedgehogs in the garden, whole families, but it is very rare now to see any evidence of them, in fact when I do see their calling card it is such a big event. What did hedgehogs feed on before man decided they needed help., the use of pesticides and loss of habitat is one of  the biggest threat to them and the fact that everyone wants privacy in their gardens, the use of fences has blocked their natural pathways. We have cut a hole in our fence that leads to scrub land at the side and back of our garden, but still very few hedgehogs.

Chris.

Many hogs all over the country have gone into hibernation early due to the poor weather, but we still are finding babies and underweight juveniles, that desperately & urgently need our help

you can always get details of a hedgehog carer or rescue centre from www.thehedgehog.co.uk or ask on http://www.hedgehoghelp.co.uk/ that way you can always get help and advice at any time of day or night

The reason for needing to feed hedeghogs with supplemental food is that in the majority of places, there is no natural food. The majority of  a hedgehogs diet would naturally be beetles, caterpillars & other creepy-crawlies http://www.thehedgehog.co.uk/diet.htm

Almost all beetles are on the red list & how frequently do you see butterfilies ( especially at this time of year) so no caterpillars. All they can find in our sterile gardens is slugs, snails and earthworms

Thanks for the useful links Derek and the info hoglady - although I am not sure that I would feel comfortable picking up little hedgehogs and taking them inside just yet.  I will certainly make a note of the websites though and if it gets much colder and they look particularly small I might reconsider.  I put out loads of hedgehog food, and am continuing to do this (mainly mealworms, so the birds eat them if not the hedgehogs) so hopefully they will have had load to eat round mine - I have seen some little (but fat looking) hedgehogs in the garden over the last week.  Like sotongeoff, even though I am really into wildlife I didn't know that slugs could be bad for hedgehogs - I I have been picking up any that I see and putting them in the hedgehog food bowls, thinking I am killing two birds with one stone, getting rid of the slugs and giving the hedgehogs a treat.  I do sincerely hope that that is not the reason for the disappearing hedgehogs!  Hopefully with the current return to organic gardening - either by those who care about the environment/wildlife, or those who are looking to cut costs - there will start to be a bit more natural food for wildlife in the coming years, and a bit of balance will be returned to nature.

Hi all you lovely hedgehog-loving people.  I found two very small hedgehogs in my garden last night (they both fit into one hand) and I used the links you provided to find my local hedgehog rescue centre.  A very lovely lady called Sadie has taken them in for the winter - she confirmed that they would have had no chance of surviving otherwise.  She also told me that hedgehogs have recently been moved from the Endangered List to the Near Extinct List, which made me sad.  Thanks for all your advice, as otherwise these hedgehogs would have certainly died - they were a lovely, healthy little boy and girl, almost certainly from the same litter 

Well done Lunarz

that is 2 that you have saved, keep your eyes open as they normally come in litters of 4 or 5 so there could well be a few more to find & save

Three cheers for Lunarz!  Saver of Hedgehogs