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.