Hodgy The Hedgehog

honeybunny · Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2012 8:37 pm Post subject: Hodgy The Hedgehog

we're lucky enough to have a hedgehog who visits us regularly, we have an arrangement yousee, he gobble's up all those pesky slugs and snails and any other creepy crawlies that cross his path and in return we pay him with a yummy free meal LOL, he's been coming to the garden for years now and is really quite a tame little guy...he has a funny eye so we always know its him Wink

he even hibernated in our greenhouse the last couple of years, i suppose this is home for him now too Very Happy

here's a pic of Hodgy last year enjoying his supper of chicken....on a napkin even lol

Sive · Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2012 9:34 pm Post subject:

How lucky you are ! I love hearing hedgehogs crunching snails......keep away from slug pellets though.

honeybunny · Posted: Wed Feb 22, 2012 6:25 pm Post subject:

ours is a completely organic garden so dont use anything like that Wink

we do worry about him coming into contact with such things in other peoples gardens though...and people and dogs too for that matter as he no longer has any fear of us or the three dogs, were so blessed to have this little wild creature trust us like he does but at the same time we've made him vulnerable... do you think.i should block off the gap in the fence where he comes and goes so he'll have to stay permanently in our garden where its safe after all he sleeps and hibernates in his nest he made in the greenhouse, i know he's a wild creature and should rightly be free to come and go as he pleases but at the same time we've made him so trusting, should we step in and keep him safe, i dunno if i should?

Sive · Posted: Thu Feb 23, 2012 9:24 am Post subject:

I saw a TV programme once which proved how large a territory each hedgehog roams over, ( can't remember exactly but it would have been the equivalent of several gardens ) presumably in order to find enough food and to look for a mate, so you may not be able to confine him/her.
I once found a hedgehog on top of a compost heap which was about four feet high, so they must be able to climb a bit vertically too......

honeybunny · Posted: Thu Feb 23, 2012 9:05 pm Post subject:

i've only ever seen him come and go though one particular gap in the fence, i don't think he would be able to get out anywhere else as we've got huge fences around our garden...the neighbourhood cats even have a hard time getting up it....even with the added speed of the three dogs hot on their heels LOL

Eyebright · Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2012 5:03 pm Post subject:

Hi Honeybunny,
You are so lucky to have a hedgehog, he looks great! They are getting quite rare these days. I don't think you can keep him in your garden though as they walk the same route every night. He'd probably go mad trying to escape!

Talking about slugs I read that seaweed is great as a mulch and the salt keeps slugs away so I'm going to try that this year.

Eyebright x

honeybunny · Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2012 4:15 am Post subject:

we used to have terrible trouble with slugs before Hodgy moved in, massive ones that looked like mini versions of Jaba The Hut lol Laughing

i used beer traps which were quite successful if utterly disgusting,...fishing those bloated slug bodies out of them was just ewww ! Shocked

Eyebright · Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2012 4:57 pm Post subject:

Hodgy must be a happy hedgehog with all those giant slugs to munch through (yuck!)

honeybunny · Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2012 6:27 pm Post subject:

i imagine that's why he chose to come to our garden initially, i think he has just about wiped out the population in the garden, i only came across the odd small slug from time to time last year and i don't think i saw a single live snail although i did find loads of empty crushed shells willy nilly around the garden...oh he's a marvellous little chap....i'd hug him for what he's managed to do if he wasn't so...prickly Rolling Eyes

just a thought but youknow those wildlife rescue centres, would they be looking for places to safely release hedgehogs do you think ? every gardener could take a couple on lol Laughing

Eyebright · Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2012 6:56 pm Post subject:

That's a great idea, I have a large wild garden that any hedgehog would love. My sister (in England) rescued a hedgehog but there was something wrong with him, he could only walk round and round in circles! I'm not sure what happened to him I must ask her.

honeybunny · Posted: Fri Mar 09, 2012 6:34 pm Post subject:

awww sounds like my poor old guinea pig, among other things he had an inner ear infection, left him with permanent balance problems, he'd walk in small circles falling over his own feet, bless him.

that said walking in large ever decreasing circles is actually a thing all hedgehogs do, they initially complete one huge circle then slowly work their way towards the centre in subsequent smaller ones, they dont have the best eyesight, relying more on their nose so the only way they'll find anything is if they cover a large area until they get close enough to smell it...Hodgy often doesn't find the food we've left out for him until he's practically fallen over it lol Laughing

Eyebright · Posted: Sat Mar 10, 2012 6:44 pm Post subject:

That's interesting, I didn't know that about hedgehogs. My friend has a similar beloved hedgehog. He eats her hens eggs which drives her mad but she loves him so much she puts up with it!

My garden is quite large and wild, I'm sure there must be a hedgehog lurking somewhere.

honeybunny · Posted: Sat Mar 10, 2012 9:11 pm Post subject:

oh yes they do love bird eggs, i have chinese painted quail and often leave the eggs out for our Hodgy and he does occasionally get the odd hard boiled chicken egg LOL Laughing

im just trying to remember....do you remember that story in the news there a good few years back, something about hedgehogs being released in....oh...i think it was an island off scotland? maybe? it was somewhere they don't naturally occur anyway, they decimated the local ground nesting seabird population by eating their eggs...i'll have to go google it now it bugging me i cant remember Rolling Eyes

Eyebright · Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2012 9:49 am Post subject:

Yes I do remember that story. Am I right in saying there's war going on because they wanted to cull all the hedgehogs but animal rights people wouldn't let them. Did they try and ferry the hedgehogs off the island? Going to have to look it up myself now!

honeybunny · Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2012 6:18 pm Post subject:

oh yeah, i forgot that, i hope they didn't end up just killing them.

Hodgy was in the garden last night first time we've seen him since last autumn. he gobbled up a good big meal of chicken (leftover from dinner) and we also left out a bowl of the dry dog food for him....the dogs were non too impressed lol well thats just tough luck, hodgys back on the scene so they'll just have to get used to sharing again Laughing