A photo from Katharine today, and a quite rare visitor to our garden a few days ago. It must be several years since we last saw one.
Hedgehogs are one of the UK’s best-loved mammals and spend much of their lives asleep. These prickly creatures rely on hedgerows and woodland edges for food and shelter.
Hedgehogs grow to 20–25cm long and typically weigh up to 1.2kg. They have a distinctive waddling gait and are covered in characteristic brown spines. They have long snouts and no spines on their underbellies, faces or limbs.
Invertebrates are a hedgehog’s favoured food, with beetles, earwigs, earthworms and caterpillars high on the menu. Occasionally, they also eat carrion and the eggs of ground-nesting birds. They’re very partial to food left out by humans too, with cat food and leftovers being an urban hedgehog staple.
Sadly, the numbers of UK hedgehogs are in serious decline. While it is difficult to accurately monitor hedgehog numbers, it is believed they could be down by over half in rural areas and a third in urban areas since 2000.
Lovely capture Katharine. We also have a hedgehog who visits the garden regularly, although we rarely see him. We feed him every night, but he's very elusive!
Thank you all for your lovely comments and favs, they are very much appreciated. Katharine will be pleased by your positive responses when she sees them.
It was lovely to see a hedgehog again after a very long time. Sadly by the time I got out into the garden with my camera it was fairly well hidden, so I didn't manage to get a photo.
Ian
July 3rd, 2024
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Thank you all for your lovely comments and favs, they are very much appreciated. Katharine will be pleased by your positive responses when she sees them.
It was lovely to see a hedgehog again after a very long time. Sadly by the time I got out into the garden with my camera it was fairly well hidden, so I didn't manage to get a photo.
Ian