Around 1am the other night we heard hedgie activity in the garden and went down to investigate - just as well we did. One of the baby hedgies had gone into the protected feeding area and couldn't get back out again. With no room to turn around, he/she hadn't worked out where 'reverse gear' was - so there was a little bottom poking out of the feeding 'tunnel' with a bit of scrabbling going on at the same time.
Len grabbed a pair of gardening gloves and gently lifted the top of the feeding area to extract baby hedgie - who immediately rolled into a protective ball:
It seemed that certainly Mama hedgie and perhaps Papa (or another baby) were in the garden as we could hear scuffles in the borders. We popped a little bit of hedgie food plus another little dish of water down for when the baby uncurled and then left it/them to it.
We know that Mama did return for the baby (and probably slapped it around the head for getting into mischief). Hopefully that's the only time we'll need to handle the babies - so cute though!
If you're wondering why we have the hedgie food so protected, it's to deter the local cats from digging in. Despite being fed at home they're still up for chicken flavoured dried hedgie food it seems. We've actually seen one local cat lying on it's side with a front leg and paw fully stretched out - trying to claw the food dish towards it :)
Di
x
So prickly and so very adorable!! Thanks for sharing this sweet photo. We Americans don't have hedgies, so it is fascinating to read abt yours!!!
ReplyDeleteSince I have 1 dog and 20 cats, I prob wouldn't have hedgies in my yard even if they lived over here! However, my dog does not manage to keep all the deer out of my yard, so who knows what she'd do with a hedgehog??? She once and only once got majorly schooled by a porcupine! So she might leave a hedgie alone, too.
<3 J
jwoolbright at gmail dot com
HerPeacefulGarden.blogspot.com
OMGoodness! He/She is precious. How fun. Amazing to say the least!
ReplyDeleteLynn
Squeeeeeeeal! He is sooooo cute! I was going to ask if the spikes were sharp and you answered my question! What fun you must have watching and feeding these cutie-pies! I wish we had them here! Thanks for sharing your photo!
ReplyDeleteOOoh Thank you so much for sharing this Di...I have never seen a hedgehog in my life and just today morning I was telling my husband about you and how lucky you are that a Hedgehog family comes to visit you! I have been to England in my childhood but only visited the usual boring tourist places...I would have loved to see a darling hedgehog such as this!!! You are indeed lucky Di!!
ReplyDeleteOh how cute, and what a good idea to keep the cats out. Great photo Tfs xxx
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine having wild hedgies! When you first talked about them I didn't think it was real! Hopefully they'll be OK & no more mischief!
ReplyDeleteHi Miss Di, a gorgeous little fellow, our Aussie Echidna's are a little similar, rolling into a ball as a defence mechanism... hopefully he has learnt his reverse lesson next time he visits... thanks for sharing... Megan
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh ... I've never seen a picture of a hedgie before. So cute, but those spikes look like nails ... and sharp! Thanks for sharing this incredible picture. xx
ReplyDeleteOoooo - how adorable :-) Made me laugh about the cat trying to paw the dish out.... ever the opportunists eh ? !!!!
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So very cute - we never seem to get hedgies in the garden any more, I think the foxes and badgers have scared them off
ReplyDeleteJane
All I can say is AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW xxx
ReplyDeleteO, it is so cute! I remember we had some in our garden in Norway as I was a little girl, too. Wonderful picture! Thank you, Di!
ReplyDeleteHugs (- without any spikes),
Liv
Awwwww Di how adorable, thanks for the photo I must show this to my Hb. My son had a great photo the other night, his dog spotted a sweet hedgie walking around in the rec ground....I didn't know they made squeaking noises too...so cute. Needless to say Bear is such a softie he didn't do more than sniff after the hedgie. Hugs xx
ReplyDeleteOooh, thanks for sharing this photo!! I am totally in love with hedgehogs and this one is sooo adorable.....
ReplyDeleteLia xx
Ooooh how cute! great idea with the food Di once l left food out my neighbours cat used to eat it so wasn't any for the hedgie l don't have any signs that there are any in my garden now and l'm sure it was the flooded area that either it left or died so up setting as l used to love seeing it thanks for sharing yours x
ReplyDeleteThis is so cute and a big "Bravo!" to your hubby to having extrat him from the feeder. He has saved him :) Thanks for sharing this photo.
ReplyDeleteI have found some little hedgehogs in my life and I always taken them in my hands without gloves: the trick is keep the hands relaxed but firm and absolutely without tighten. :D
So cute Di!
ReplyDeleteJanice x
Oooh, how sweet this little hedgie is Di. We have a hedghog that pops next door for the odd snack that our neighbour leaves out for it, but at the front of the house. It made such a noise with the dish the other night that I got out of bed to take a look out of the window and managed to catch it legging it down the road and is obviously fully grown as it is really big! x
ReplyDeleteSuper cute! There is just something adorable and super sweet when they are so little, thank you for the photo as it's been a while since I saw one. It's the chicken aroma that drives your local cats mad. Sometimes no matter how much they eat there's always something yummy that they can add, lol, so speaks the voice of previously a cat lady Karen xx
ReplyDeleteWell done to you and Len for rescuing the baby hedgie and thanks so much for sharing that adorable photo with us. We have hedgie's visit at night but not seen any babies.
ReplyDeleteI did have a robin feeding it's baby twins yesterday. They were sitting on the roof of the bird table and we've had jackdaws feeding young over the past week. Sadly no pictures though. Glad you managed to take this one to share with us. Barbxx
Oh cute baby hedgie!! We have at least one baby sparrowhawk squeaking nearby constantly - bit annoying to be honest. We had the same last summer! Saw Mum or Dad this morning. You wouldn't want to see the most recent photo, as it involves eating a pigeon on the lawn! Would like to swap for hedgies! Xx
ReplyDeleteWhat a fabulous picture and story Di!! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteHmmm.... they aren't as cute in real life as Penny Black depicts them, are they? Still rather sweet. Thanks to your hubby for the heroism.
ReplyDeleteOh wow, what a fabulous photo and how lucky you are.
ReplyDeleteKath x
Len to the rescue - how cute is that hedgie?!! My hero :)
ReplyDeleteSuch a cute little hedgie and a fabulous photo xx
ReplyDeleteGood job you rescued him! I'm sure mum gave him a clip round the ear for getting into trouble though! Cara x
ReplyDeleteSo adorable!
ReplyDeleteOMGosh! This is so cute! Brilliant photo too. xx
ReplyDeleteAwwwwww, what a cutie! Great picture, too!
ReplyDeleteOh, what a fun story and photo! I didn't even know anyone made Hedgie food...but it makes sense as you can even find such items as Monkey chow available. Glad you rescued that little wayward baby and got it reunited with the rest of the hedgie family
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