Blackbirds everywhere

Every time I go or look outside I see loads of blackbirds. They seem to be enjoying eating the brightly-coloured berries that are so prevalent at this time of year. To my mind they are a more festive bird than the robin, simply because there are so many of them. And of course, they are mentioned in the song "The 12 Days of Christmas"; they are the "four calling birds".

I've not seen any hedgehog activity recently, not that I expect to at this time of year. However Gigibird who lives on the south coast of England told me a few days ago that her two hog visitors are still active! I wonder if they don't intend hibernating so long as she keeps supplying food for them.

Hedgehogs in the news again

Fat albino hedgehog put on weight-loss regime

An albino hedgehog being cared for at St Tiggywinkles wildlife hospital in Buckinghamshire is being put on a diet because he is dangerously overweight.

Snowball, as he has been nicknamed by staff, needs to lose two pounds to get down to a healthy weight.

He is now being put through a rigorous exercise regime, as Claire Price reports.

See video at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8409188.stm


And more disturbingly:

African pygmy hedgehogs become latest handbag accessory

African pygmy hedgehogs have become the latest must-have handbag accessory, prompting condemnation from animal welfare campaigners.

By Murray Wardrop
Published: 7:30AM GMT 11 Dec 2009

The tiny creatures are said to be stealing the hearts of rich women, including footballers' wives and girlfriends, ousting designer dogs like Chihuahuas from their handbags.

At five inches long, owners have told breeders they prefer the hedgehogs to take in their bags because they are easier to maintain than dogs.

Their popularity has been cemented by the variety of colours buyers can choose between – from albino to apricot and chocolate to salt and pepper.

However, animal welfare experts are outraged that the hedgehogs, which sell for around £250, are being marketed as fashion accessories.

Leanne Plumtree, of the RSPCA, said: "Pygmy hedgehogs are undoubtedly very cute but animals aren't accessories and promoting them as such is irresponsible.

"These are exotic animals whose needs are very difficult to meet in a household situation and where that's the case, the RSPCA does not believe they should be kept."

Janet Thornton from North West Animal Welfare rescue centre, in Warrington, Cheshire, added: "These hedgehogs are not fashion accessories

"These are disgusting deplorable people who swap and change their pets like their outfits."

Cheshire Waterlife wildlife centre, which stocks the hedgehogs, has witnessed a sharp increase in demand for the animals as pets in the run up to Christmas.

It said customers had travelled hundreds of miles in search of the creatures.

Steve Birchell, owner of the centre, said: "Our business is based on respect for animals and we ensure that anybody who buys a pet from us knows and understands the importance of proper care for their pet.

"We've been astounded at the popularity of these cute little creatures. I bought a number of the hedgehogs from a breeder who I met a few months ago little realising how popular they were set to become.

"Apparently they are all the range among the WAGS because they are cute, they love being handled and they will sit quite happily in a handbag. What's more they are also inexpensive to keep, feeding on cat-food."

"We've seen customers travel the length and breadth of the country to get here and buy one."

The centre advises prospective buyers to keep the pigmys in their own enclosure – away from other pets.

Diana Mather, a self-styled etiquette and style guru, said: "These lovely little animals should make a perfect present for the trend setter who has everything.

"They're ideal for designer mums to give to their children.

"The African pygmy hedgehog is a delightful little creature which is increasingly seen gracing designer kitchens and peeping out from the handbags of our fashionistas."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/6784317/African-pygmy-hedgehogs-become-latest-handbag-accessory.html

Hibernating: Do Not Disturb!

Well, it's December now and I've not seen any hedgehogs in the garden since the night of the 17th November, and have seen no sign of them having visited so I think it's safe to assume that they are all hibernating now. I'd just like to take this opportunity to share with you my very favourite hedgehog photos from 2009:











This past year has been a tough one for me. In March I lost my beloved feline campanion, a beautiful 16-year old black Burmese cat called Spock (see below), and I've never really stopped mourning him and miss him every day. I also lost my job, and although I have enough savings to keep myself afloat for a little while, it has been stressful.

The hedgehogs have helped me. They have given me a focus and a purpose. I feel I've learnt a lot about them through my observations and my videos, and they have further developed my respect for our nature and wildlife which so many people take for granted and do not appreciate.

I feel honoured to have helped them too; to provide a source of food and water and to watch out for the little ones late in the year who may not survive hibernation.

I'm so looking forward to next spring and the return of my spiky friends. In the meantime I will be maintaining a supply of food in the feeding station at the side of the patio near the fence, just in case a hedgehog awakes from hibernation in the winter and needs a bite to eat.

I'm dedicating today's post to my late kitty, Spock, who would have been 17 years old today.

Hedgehogs in Amateur Photographer magazine

There's an interesting article in the current issue of Amateur Photographer magazine (cover date 21 November 2009) in which wildlife photographer Paul Hobson talks about how he spent two years creating a series of images documenting the life of a hedgehog.

I've left the above image scan of the magazine at low resolution, because obviously these are not my own images.

The little hedgehog goes to Tiggywinkles

Thanks again to E. from the Twosie The Hedgehog blog for helping me get this little fellow delivered safely to Tiggywinkles wildlife hospital yesterday.

The staff at Tiggywinkles told us that they are now quoting a safe hibernation weight of 500g for a hedgehog rather than the previously quoted 600g, possibly because of the milder weather recently. The little one we took in (who doesn't actually look so small in the photo, but he is all stretched out) weighed approximately 470g so he was a real borderline case. At that weight, i.e. over 400g, they said technically he's not a juvenile. However, they did say to bring him in when I telephoned and so that is what we did.

And yes, it turns out that he is indeed a boy.

I asked what would happen to him and was told that they would fatten him up and then when he reaches the required weight they would probably put him outside in the Tiggywinkles grounds, all the while keeping an eye on his progress. Then all going well, he will be released into the wild in the spring.

Thanks again to both S. and E. from Twosie the Hedgehog for all their help, advice and kindness, and for the above photo!

More on Autumn Juvenile #3

The poor little hedgehog got itself into a bit of a pickle last night. First of all it managed to drag the corner of its blanket into the water bowl and the water soaked into the blanket and into the newspaper beneath. In these pictures we see the little hog tucked up inside a shoebox while I clean the pet carrier out and refresh the newspaper. Not having a second blanket to hand, I ended up getting a pair of scissors and cutting off the wet corner of blanket.

When I put the hedgehog back into the pet carrier I fashioned a sleeping area out of the shoebox, cutting away a portion so it could get in and out easily. I left part of the fold-down lid on it so as to enclose the bedding and make it more snug for the hog. The idea was that this arrangement would stop the bedding being accidentally dragged into the water.

However, the little hog continued to get into a pickle and I later found it on top of the shoebox, partially wedged in at the side. It was trying to sleep like that, poor thing. I took the hog out and cut away and removed the lid of the shoe box. A little later on, it still managed to get itself wedged behind the cardboard, not getting any benefit from the blanket, so I ended up removing the now totally carved-up shoebox altogether. It wasn't such a good idea, it seems.

In this next picture we see Elsa trying to get involved whilst I was cleaning out the pet carrier. "Really," I told her, "you are not helping!"

Despite all these trials and tribulations, the little hog seems to be alright this morning, and there are signs that it has been eating. I have phoned Tiggywinkles. The receptionist wasn't too sure what to say at first when I told her the hedgehog weighed 470g because she said it was a borderline weight. She had to go and consult someone but soon came back with a very definite, "Yes, you need to bring him in to us." So, it looks like that is what we are going to do.

Here is some video footage of the little one, captured earlier in the evening by the motion sensor camera shortly before I found him outside the back door:

Here we go again... Autumn Juvenile #3

I saw earlier tonight that we had a hedgehog visitor in the feeding station, and I also saw him a little later at the water bowl. I just assumed it was the same hedgehog as on Monday night. At about 10pm, I looked out the back, and seeing that the coast was clear (or so I thought) I stepped outside to check the levels of food.

Then when I turned back to the house I saw this little fellow and my immediate reaction was that he or she was a small hedgehog and I'd better get it inside and weighed.

It turns out that s/he's about 470g so is nearly big enough to survive hibernation but not quite. It's certainly bigger than the two autumn juveniles that I found last month. I have the hedgehog safe in a pet carrier with bedding, food and water, and I shall phone Tiggywinkles in the morning, tell them how much s/he weighs and see if they think I should bring him/her in for overwintering.

Monday night's hedgehog returns to visit throughout the night and is captured on video

At a time of year when most hedgehogs in the UK are already hibernating, I was surprised to see this visitor to the garden. I have been continuing to put out food (mainly dried mealworms) just in case there were still a few hogs about, and it seems it was a good idea as this hedgehog appears to be quite hungry.

I photographed this hedgehog a little earlier in the night (see previous post), and was inspired to put the video camera out just in case it came back. Seems I was lucky!

This compilation of footage was captured on the motion-sensor infrared camera between 10:20pm on Monday 16 November 2009, through to approx 4:40 in the morning.

Note that the hedgehog keeps going just off-camera to the right of the shot in the foreground. There is a bowl here with just a little rainwater in it (and a leaf, it turns out). I'm not sure why it doesn't go to the other waterbowl between the feeding station and the plant pot at the top left of the picture - there's much more water in it.

Today I'm going to go buy some more mealworms as I'm down to the last pot, whilst this footage proves that I might need to get some more in.

It looks like I spoke too soon...

Last night I noticed all the mealworms in the feeding station had been eaten. (I have been continuing to put food out - just in case!) I was really hoping that a rat wasn't responsible. However, tonight at approx 9.00 pm, I noticed a dark shape in the feeding station...

Here, above, we see a hedgehog leaving the feeding station after having eaten all the mealworms.

Here is another shot. You might question why I was out taking photos of the hedgehog and potentially scaring it away. Well, as I said, it had had a nice feed already - the bowl had been emptied, so I wasn't too worried about it running off, but more importantly I wanted to check that this was an adult hedgehog and big enough to survive hibernation. For one horrible moment when I saw a shape in the feeding station, I thought it might be another autumn juvenile.

This particular hedgehog has a tick near its ear, and may well be the same one I saw shortly before the visits dropped right off over a week ago.

All gone now...

I do hate to post without a picture or a video, but sadly I have no new images to share with you. Since my previous post from a whole week ago I have seen no more hedgehogs. There were no visits at all last weekend, although most of the food in the feeding station was eaten on Monday night (possibly by a passing hedgehog searching for food rather than a regular visitor - if it had been Scratchy I would have seen her at her regular times). Since Monday night there have been no more visits.

I feel a sense of sadness now that the hedgehogs have gone; I just hope they have all found safe places to hibernate through this ghastly weather and I am already looking forward to seeing them again in the spring.

If I see - and more importantly photograph - any other noteworthy wildlife in the intervening months I will post on this blog, otherwise all I can say for now is thanks for visiting and see you next spring!