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'