hedgehogs

[janeyo]

Hi, last night OH found a hedgehog in the garden (under the chicken coop, presumably finishing off bits and bobs of food)

I know they are great in the garden for helping with slugs and snails so how can I encourage it to hang around?

janeyo

[Headfry]

Cat food! you can even buy hedgehog food now days!
but Please, NO milk and bread, it harms them.

I have heard but not seen ours this year! cant wait, I love them, such cute faces.
I would love to work with them.

[janeyo]

There are prob bits of bread in the henrun from the chickens, do I ned to go round and pick it up when chooks in bed then? I always assume the wild birds who are up a bit later polish it all off and not the mice or hedgehogs.
If I put catfood down will it encourage more cats? We have 3 - and surely a hedgehog will stay away then? There are also a couple of other lurking cats.

janeyo

just googled the hedgehog food - looks good, but do other animals eat it too? Don't want to encourage vermin etc and we already have lots of cheeky grey squirrels

[HeyWayne]

I would love to work with them.

I'd magine they'd be rubbish at answering the phone though HF!

[Headfry]

probably better than me HW (it's my job) lol

Yes, see what you mean about vermin Janeyo.... I'm not sure but I think it's the milk that does more harm than the bread.
I would google some more, see what the sites suggest....better join you in web land, when we put out hog food it all goes! like you say.....vermin??? yuck

[Pootle]

Our pair come every year for a dry cat food feast - but make sure its not the fishy one because its not good for them. Unfortunately they mate right outside our patio doors (which makes for some interesting discussions with the children )

They also like to hibernate in our paper recycling - which is lovely but impractical!

[Nicos]

Cat food is fine- but NOT the gravy ones- and NOT fish

Also some dog biscuits go down a treat ( they help prevent gingivitis which is becoming a problem with garden hedgehogs)

Plenty of fresh water is good too.

Of course you'd encourage other cats/vermine- but that's the risk....real hedgehog food are slugs etc!!

If the food is being eaten, and there's no slimey black poo nearby then it's not a hedgehog which is eating it ( they're more than happy to poo in with their food!!)

[jeannine]

Headfry is right that it's the milk that can give hedgehogs tummy upsets, I don't think bread will do them any harm, especially if you put a dish of water out for them.

If you're lucky enough to have hedgehogs, it's worth being extra careful when it comes to strimming, lighting bonfires etc. Also if you have a pond, ensure there's chickenwire in one corner or similar so the hedgehogs can escape if they fall in.

I had a half barrel pond at my old house and found a drowned baby hedgehog in it - it was years ago and I still feel sad!!!

[Polly Fouracre]

And PLEASE!!! no slug pellets.They are the biggest killer of hedgehogs ever.Even if you put them under stones etc. the poor old hedgehog will find and eat the affected slugs.

[janeyo]

No I threw my slug pellets away when we moved - new house, new garden, new way of life.
I wasn't aware before of how awful they are so no def not using those.

I think the hedgehogs are liking the chicken run as there are little bits of fruit bread etc and of course the drinker is floor level and they can't fall in.

I will def be trying to encourage them to stay

janeyo

[charlie dimwit]

We have 4 hoggies coming and we feed peanuts plus hoggy biscuits, the peanuts go first.

[Vegwise]

Hi,

Try peanuts as this will not attract cats.

But the hedgehogs love them.

[BarleySugar]

We had a near miss tonight going to pick up my son. There was a hedgehog in the middle of the road. It wasn't possible to stop, but I managed to drive over the top of him without squashing. When I checked the mirror I could see he made it to the other side safely.