Big Bob in Technicolour

During the heatwave Big Bob put in an early appearance one evening for a breath of fresh air, he is hiding a bit but it's fun to see him in colour!

Feathered Friends and Curious Critters and Other Stories

I always enjoy seeing what other creatures get caught on camera besides the hedgehogs.
The birds have become very cheeky about pinching mealworms over the spring and summer but then they have lots of mouths to feed.

There's been starlings with their kids, Mrs Blackbird getting a take away and a very tame and friendly sparrow who was a frequent visitor for a week or so.



I got some live mealworms to treat the hedgehogs, but apparently they weren't to the hogs tastes, this one steps right in them and shows no interest.



The Robin was an early bird the next morning to make the most of the free snacks and then the starlings also had a feast!

There haven't been many wood mice around this year that I've seen. A new cat in the neighbourhood has been on a killing spree of all the wildlife tho so that's probably why.

I did get this glimpse of a busy mouse tho and not just any mouse, it's Lofty!
I caught Lofty in my loft, and marked her by trimming a small patch of fur on her flank, not and easy task! I released her into the compost heap as a test to see if she returned to the loft, or if I had blocked up the holes sufficiently.
It looks like she has remained as a garden mouse for now at least.



And finally, have you ever seen a dancing slug?
Slugs sway when they feel threatened, and this slug just had a close encounter with Big Bob, so no wonder he's set a swaying. You have to watch closely to see.



I don't know if all slugs sway, but the big brown ones do. I also don't see how this would help protect them. If anyone knows more about swaying slugs and why they do it, I'd be interested to know.

World Hedgohog Wrestling; Big Bob VS Hoggle

When I went out one morning last week to find all the pot plants on my patio in disarray I suspected a cat fight, but it turns out Big Bob and Hoggle had quite a tussle! Here's the match highlights!



My money would have been on Big Bob just because of the size factor, but I forgot how feisty Hoggle is and that Big Bob is actually more of a lover than a fighter. XD"

The next night there was no sign of Big Bob! Could Hoggle have finally toppled him as king of the garden!?

My First Hoglet

When I checked the camera for the night before last I got a brilliant surprise, it's my first ever hoglet!



Look how teeny it is! X3
It's half the size of the other hogs!

I've never seen a hoglet before, cept in books and on telly so to see one in my own garden, even if it is via the camera trap is a real treat!

I haven't seen any female hogs for ages so I don't know where this little one came from. I hope it has siblings nearby too.

I hope it sticks around! X3

Rosie Falafel Hedgehog

When I went to pick up Big Bob from the vets, the vet mentioned they had another hedgehog in who might need some longer term care and asked if I might be able to provide it.

Falafel, as she was then called, had been found out in daylight in a churchyard by a member of the public who had brought her in. She was very thin and dehydrated.
The vets discovered the left side of her jaw was dislocated and had a rotten slug lodged in it. They removed the slug and tried to fix the jaw but it was an old injury and they couldn't relocate it.
The vets were amazed she had survived long enough with such an injury to have become unfixable.
So seeing her resilience they offered her soft food and she lapped it up.
The vet said she ate and drank almost constantly at first and quickly doubled in weight to 750grams.

The vets were reluctant to put her to sleep as she was otherwise healthy and still capable of breeding and clearly having survived in such a state had a strong will to survive.

So that is how Rosie (as I renamed her) Falafel Hedgehog came to live in my garden.



On our way home, a muntjac leapt across the road at a busy junction in broad daylight onto the canal.

I put her carrier on the floor inside while I prepared her new home. Ernie my Guinea Pig came up to see who was in his carrier. I think he was expecting it to be his brother Eric, so he got a surprise when Rosie congenially poked her nose through the bars to say hello. Ernie retreated swiftly to the safety of his snuggie grumbling.
He did creep out for another look but with the same results. Silly piggie.

Initially Rosie is in a temporary pen while I make her a large enclosure from the raspberry patch and herb garden.



The vets said she might take a while to get used to being nocturnal again as at the vets she had been very disrupted in her usual habits with the noise and lights of being at a busy practice.
But Rosie went back to hedgehog time right away and didn't emerge till almost 10pm, going to bed at 4:30am on her first night, very respectable hedgehog time keeping.

The first few nights I don't think she realised she had more space after being at the vets so she pooped in the feeding box and plastered that poop further than such a small animal should have been able to spread it!
She soon realised she had outside to explore and poop in tho.

Even if it was a bit soggy. After such a hot dry summer her first few days outside again it poured with rain!
Thankfully the house I made from an old drawer kept her snug and dry.



Having a lady hedgehog in the garden has brought Big Bob back after he got Grumpy with me.
In fact the first night Rosie was here, Big Bob or Hoggle, or possibly both came by to visit her.




I think they were really more interested in her food tho! XD"

I keep changing her pen around to make things more interesting for her until her enclosure is ready.

I have had a friend make her a proper hedgehog box and he also made her an adorable little bridge to add to her enclosure to explore.

Ernie tests Rosie's new bridge


I only see and handle her once a week for weighing and changing her bedding, the rest of the time she's left alone to have as natural a life as possible.



She's put on a little more weight since she arrived and is doing very well on Spike's semi-moist food softened with water and some wet cat food for variety.

Big Bob's Holibobs

Although I haven’t been posting much there's still lots of hedgehog adventures going on here.

This year there aren't any lady hogs around but Hoggle and Big Bob are still coming by.

Big Bob has made himself quite at home, snoozing in the hedgehog box nearest the hog restaurant so he can get his breakfast as soon as he gets up.

During the heatwave I was airing the house late one evening and watched Bob come for his breakfast before toddling off for an amble round the garden.

I was just locking up before bed when I heard an awful coughing sound in the garden.
It was so loud I couldn't think what was causing it.
So I took a torch and investigated.
It was Big Bob! I couldn't believe that such a small animal could make such a loud noise.

Concerned he had lungworm I scooped him up and made him a box for the night.



Next day it was off to the local vets wildlife rescue.

So it turns out Big Bob was fine except the vets think the hay I was using in his house was giving him hayfever! They suggested switching to newspaper instead.

They kept Bob for 5 days to check him properly and so they could worm him.

They found him quite a character and it sounds like he treated the whole experience as a holiday, eating everything on offer.

Here's Bob in a holding pen while I changed his bedding for newspaper when he came home.







As you can see he was keen to be off.

I think he was a little grumpy with me for abducting him and he didn't visit for about a week, but the chance on an easy meal and good food lured him back.
Recently he's been snoozing back in his favourite hog house again.

In fact he was up early a couple of nights ago and I was late putting his tea out. He scampered into the greenhouse to hide.



I scooped him up and put him back in the restaurant once I'd served up his breakfast.





He's living up to the name Big Bob, when he exited the restaurant he struggled to fit through the door!
I've made it wider for him now so he should be an even happier hog.

Storage Box Hedgehog Feeding Station Tutorial

Last night Big Bob was early for his breakfast. Living up to his name I watched him squeeze his way into the feeding station. So this morning the first job was cut a bigger door!

A lot of people have difficulty cutting the door into thier plastic storage box so I thought I'd show you my method of how to make the door in 5 simple steps.

You will need:
A plastic storage box
Duct Tape
A gardening glove
A sharpie
Something with a 13cm diameter (a cd is good)
A junior hacksaw blade
A drill, hand or electric
A large drill bit

Step 1:
Draw around your CD or similar item with the sharpie where young the door.



Step 2:
Drill a hole somewhere on the line. The hole needs to be big enough to fit the saw blade through. If you don't have a drill bit that big, drill two holes close together so they join up and make a big enough hole.





Step 3:

Put on the gardening glove and put the saw blade through the hole.
Have the teeth so the blade cuts on the up pull of the blade.

Start to saw gently.
Use small strokes and try to saw at right angles to the crate.



Saw slowly following the line.
You may need to support the plastic with your other hand yo stop it from flexing too much.





Step 4:

Clean away all the plastic sawdust and ensure the storage box is clean and dry.
Now use strips of Duct Tape to cover any sharp edges around the hole.





Step 5:

Now your feeding box is ready for some hungry hedgehogs!



I line mine with newspaper and use bricks inside and outside the entrance to stop cats from getting inside.



Don't forget to add the food! XD

Edit:
After making the entrance bigger for Big Bob, the neighbours cat Mo managed to squeeze in, so some additional bricks were required. Seems to have worked, tho as you can see from this photo, he's always around to clear up any leftovers when the lid's open. XD'