I'm sure this hedgehog should be hibernating but he seems happy and healthy. It's the first time I've seen him but my neighbour has seen him a few times, always at dusk. He comes to see what he can find to eat at the bottom of the bird feeders. It's not a good photo because it was getting dark and I didn't want to get too close.
There's been such a decline in hedgehog numbers that I feel priviledged to have seen one.
@phil_sandford Well I too am concerned Phil but he seems happy and healthy and has been visiting for a while. He's clearly not fully grown but he's not particularly small either. Hopefully is big enough to survive. I think all the wildlife is confused by the weather, it really hasn't been that cold.
I don’t think animals hibernate as they used to...squirrels are supposed to hibernate mostly aren’t they...they never stopped climbing up our bird table all winter!
Such a lucky sighting. I've heard that animals hibernate and/or migrate depending more on food availability rather than the temperatures or weather so, in a suburban environment, where they are able to find year round sources of food many of them are changing their patterns. Don't know if this is a proven thing yet or just a proposed theory.
@phil_sandford@bigmxx@gardencat@carole_sandford@gilbertwood I just thought you’d like to know that I called the Hedgehog Preservation Society this morning and apparently it’s not unusual for a hedgehog to be out and about at this time of year especially in a mild winter, just as long as it isn’t out during the day and as long as it isn’t too small, which this one isn’t. The lady I spoke to said we should put dog food out for it and water. If we see it out in the middle of the day then that is cause for concern and I have to call her back and she’ll put me in touch with a hedgehog rescue centre. Apparently she’s been getting lots of phone calls like mine.
January 28th, 2021
Leave a Comment
Sign up for a free account or Sign in to post a comment.
