Where are the hogs?

The above photo is from last Friday night. I haven't actually laid eyes on a hedgehog for a couple of days now. Last night I know they visited because the food had been eaten, but tonight it doesn't look as if any of the food has gone yet. Which is strange seeing as in recent weeks the hogs had been turning up most nights before 9:00om even, and Scratchy in particular was often to be seen throughout the night around the plant pots by the back door.

Of course, with the camera currently out of commission, I can't watch hedgehogs that way either.

It's a weird feeling. It's almost like a sense of loss.

At least I can check on the hedgehoggy comings and goings on the blogs of my fellow hedgehog lovers. Shirl of Shirl's Gardenwatch has sent me a couple of photos of her hogs. which I include below:

The hedgehog in these photos is making itself comfortable in a hedgehog house in Shirl's garden. Perhaps one of next year's projects for me could be to put a hedgehog house or two out in the garden. More cameras would be a nice idea too!

Other blogs with fantastic hedgehog photos and video footage include Midmarsh Jottings and Twosie the Hedgehog. This charming little animal is sadly in decline and can now be considered an endangered species, so I think it's wonderful that people are championing the hedgehog. It really is conservation on your own doorstep!

Disaster strikes

Tonight, I tried re-charging the battery in my infrared wildlfe camera and soon noticed a nasty burning plastic smell. The battery pack appeared to be melting and was very hot. Somehow it's fried. No idea how that happened.

It's one of these trail cameras and should still be under warranty. If I've time tomorrow I'll see if I can get something sorted out.

Otherwise that will mean no more hedgehog videos this year.

Sunday night's hedgehog visitors

Tonight was a quieter night in the garden, with calmer weather but getting colder as Autumn approaches. The hedgehogs will probably only be around now for two months before hibernating. I'm hoping there aren't going to be any late babies as underweight hogs have little chance of surviving through the winter.

Scratchy and friends on Saturday night

Here is three hours' worth of hedgehog footage compressed into six minutes!

Check out for Scratchy's antics at around 2:39 on the video. Very funny!

Also, we get to see Scratchy's "undercarriage" (for want of a better word), and... is Scratchy a boy? Surely not? Another hedgehog was trying to mount her last week?

UNLESS...

Could there be TWO Scratchys with similar markings on their backs? Could this be how I missed the tick on his/her lower back earlier this week? Had I been looking at a second hedgehog? I don't know what to think any more.

Three hedgehogs on a windy Tuesday night

I've returned the camera to the tried and tested position against the back wall of the house and facing the hedgehog feeding station. I seem to get the best results there.

You'll recognise Scratchy in these video clips. She's the one with markings on her back and is also the hog that keeps scratching. I briefly examined her earlier in the evening and was pleased to see that the ticks I treated with olive oil had fallen off. However, later on I noticed another tick that I must have missed lower down on her back. I didn't want to haul her inside again - it doesn't seem fair to the hedghog to keep messing about with it like that - so I'm going to try to attend to it another time.

I wish I could examine her underside where she keeps scratching with that rear right foot, but it's difficult when they curl up into a ball.

Scratchy has a tick problem

Poor little Scratchy. Not only does she seem to have to contend with that almost permanent itch, but recent photos have shown that she has a couple of nasty ticks attached to her back. Examining her last night, I decided to do something about it.

I picked her up gently using gardening gloves and took her indoors and popped her into a large cardboard box. I then identified two ticks on her back and applied a generous dose of olive oil to each. (Apparently you can also use vegetable oil, baby oil or diluted lavender oil*. I used olive oil because I had it to hand.) The oil suffocates the ticks and hopefully they should drop off soon afterwards. I didn't try pulling them off because their mouth parts can get left in the hedgehog's skin which can then turn septic. I chose to let Scratchy back outside again, where hopefully the ticks should fall off naturally as she goes about her business in the undergrowth.

After putting her back in the garden, she quickly ran away. However, within 20 minutes she was back on the patio eating mealworms as if nothing had happened to her, so thankfully it looks like she wasn't traumatised by the experience of me bringing her indoors.

I'll look out for her again tonight and see if those horrible ticks have fallen off.

* Please note: NEVER use tea tree oil which is poisonous to hedgehogs.

Scratchy's back on Sunday night...

...and so is her friend:

Two hogs on Saturday night

Here's Scratchy and another hog quite happily eating together, with no headbutting or nasty behaviour going on. In fact, halfway through the video they seem to be getting rather friendly!

Elsa watches the birdies

Thankfully, the local birds seem to have realised that we have a cat again and are giving our garden a miss. I do miss watching them, but on the upside they aren't getting killed!

RSPCA: Hedgehog numbers may be at risk from rat poison

Wednesday, 26, Aug 2009 12:00

New scientific research aided by the RSPCA has for the first time found that rat and mice poison may be having an effect on the welfare of hedgehogs.

The new study shows that anticoagulants, which are a group of chemicals used to kill rodents by preventing the blood from clotting, have shown up in significant levels in the hedgehogs studied. This could have an impact on their survival, breeding success or mobility.

RSPCA’s Wildlife Scientific Officer Sophie Adwick said “All four of the RSPCA’s Wildlife Centres, along with other establishments, supplied scientists at the University of Bristol with the carcasses of 120 hedgehogs that had died or were put to sleep due to illness or injury. The findings of this study are a great surprise and may have a significant impact on how these poisons are used in the future, so I’m pleased that our RSPCA Centres were able to contribute to this important study.”

Dr Claire Dowding, from the University of Bristol, who carried out the research said “the number of hedgehogs affected is quite worrying. It’s difficult to tell exactly how these animals are exposed to the chemicals. They may be eating them directly, scavenging on dead rodents that have been killed by the poison or eating their favourite diet of slugs and snails that have fed on the poison bait. Slugs and snails are not affected by anticoagulants because their blood is different, but they will retain poisonous residues.”

Out of the 120 hedgehogs sampled, 80 of them had been exposed to these poisons, Claire said “this high figure really is of concern and might be one of the reasons why the British hedgehog population is thought to be declining”.

Sophie added “The findings of this study mean that we must ensure these poisons are used with even greater care. Because they are widely available and the most common form of rodent control, we would urge people to bear in mind the wider problems these are now thought to cause, and use them responsibly.”

Hundreds of hedgehogs are admitted to RSPCA Wildlife Centres every year, usually because youngsters born late in the season will not have had enough time to build up sufficient fat reserves to survive hibernation. Once their weight has been increased they are released back into the wild. Sadly some are too ill to rescue or have suffered some sort of injury, only in these cases are the animals are put to sleep.

Information regarding the rescue and rehabilitation work that RSPCA Wildlife Centres carry out can be found online at www.rspca.org.uk/wildlife where you can also listen to the monthly wildlife podcast.

http://www.politics.co.uk/opinion-formers/press-releases/animal-welfare/rspca-hedgehog-numbers-may-be-at-risk-from-rat-poison-$1321465$366366.htm