Last year we enjoyed a wealth of hedgehogs visiting the garden and it felt like a long winter waiting for the next season of hedgehog activity. Now it’s here and it’s getting even more entertaining! Last night we had three hedgehogs visit during the evening. Two adults were sniffing and snorting at each other for a long time and even though occasionally they would walk away from each other, they would return to continue the snorting. They didn’t appear to be mating but we did wonder whether it could be a male and female working up to it. Whilst they were snorting away, a little rustle in the bushes alerted us to a juvenile (first for us of this year!) that made it’s way over to us. One of the adults came and sniffed at my feet and when the youngster came out, it scared the poor creature by heading over to it and circling it whilst sniffing until it seemed satisfied that it wasn’t a threat. The little hedgehog ran off at the first opportunity and seemed a little stunned by the experience.
Despite the hot and dry weather the hedgehogs seem to have no difficulty finding plenty to eat in the garden, which is probably mostly down to the birds scattering seed and suet during the day. We leave out large shallow trays of water so there is a large supply for these thirsty creatures.
After beginning to tackle the big garden project we made room for new fences to replace those that had been battered by high winds. The fencing company was familiar with the request for hedgehog holes and obliged; creating some perfect hedgehog-sized square holes all the way down the garden in the fences. They mostly stuck to putting holes in places where the hedgehogs would have walked before changing the fences and we can see that they’re using these holes. The other side of the garden sits a hedge, which is perfect for the hedgehogs to wonder from one garden to the next.
We’re looking forward to seeing how our hedgehogs get on and whether there will be even more visitors as time goes on…watch this space!