(no subject)

[angrboda]

The other day when I went out to take the bin up, I found access to it was temporarily blocked.

Isn't he just adorable!

We waited a bit before going out again and he had moved on. Quite large, so definitely not from this year. And yes, shadow in the corner is definitely my finger...

Comments

[iddewes]

Awww! I love hedgies! We took one in briefly a few years ago to help it gain enough weight to get through the winter. (It gained a lot of weight very quickly so we could release it again). My husband is totally a hedgehog whisperer, it got very comfortable with him.

[angrboda]

Husband occasionally drives sick hedgehogs around as a volunteer for a charity. I call him my hedgehero when he goes off in his hedgebulance. You're not legally allowed to look after wild animals in this country unless you're certified for it, which is what the charity does, so if someone finds one that needs help and can't get it to a carer themselves, Husband might get a call to come and fetch it and drive it to the carer. :) It only happens a few times a year, but definitely often enough that I found this one WAY more exotic than he did. :p

[iddewes]

Ah ok! I am in Germany and here you can’t keep wild animals long term unless you are certified but you can take care of them briefly. We had help from a local woman who IS certified.
And that’s so lovely that your husband does that!

[angrboda]

I think it used to be like that here as well (Denmark), but they changed the law a few years ago (causing a bit of panic at the hedgehog charity as I recall to get all their carers certified)

[rodo]

We're currently doing that, and boy, can that hoglet eat. She's still got quite a bit of weight to gain, though, considering she was at just above 200g a mere week ago.

[iddewes]

Oh yes, they can eat! The one we cared for put on so much weight that we could release it again (we asked an experienced wildlife rescuer for advice and she said that would be fine), before it went into hibernation. I forget how long we had it, maybe a couple of weeks? It put on something like half its original body weight.

[rodo]

Yeah, ours has to gain more than half her original weight of slightly above 200g, and she's doing a good job so far. You're lucky you could release it - I think ours might take too long, meaning she'll have to hibernate in a box in the garage before being released. We've got an experienced rescuer supervising us too, which has been a big help.

[iddewes]

I‘m glad you have an experienced rescuer helping you too, that helps so much. We were clueless about a lot - even the flea thing - we had no idea how many fleas were on the hedgie till we took it to the lady here and she sprayed it with flea killer - it was like a mass exodus! And my husband was totally clueless what to feed it. I told him it would like wet cat food and the rescuer confirmed that. He thought it would eat fruit!

[rodo]

Luckily, we already knew what to feed hedgehogs, since about a month ago, we noticed one in our garden was eating bird feed and provided it with a healthier alternative. They really will eat anything in fall, when they can't find their normal food anymore (including fruit!). And the flea issue was pretty apparent to me when I first held her, because one hopped on my hand. Plus, visible ticks.

But we had no idea that we had to keep her warm, and what weight was okay. Plus, she was dehydrated, which we didn't notice either, not being experts.

[shirebound]

What an unexpected visitor! I've never seen one in person.

[angrboda]

Husband has seen quite a few at this point (see comment above), so this one was definitely more special to me than to him (although obviously he did enjoy it). It's been a very long time since I've seen signs of one in the garden, so I didn't know for sure if any lived around here.

[rydra_wong]

Hedgepig!

[angrboda]

<3

[cmcmck]

Hedgie! :o)

[angrboda]

<3

[vriddy]

Adorable, how nice!! :D :D

[angrboda]

<3

[cesy]

Aww!

[angrboda]

<3

[zenigotchas]

Is that a hedgie?! I'm in love!!

[angrboda]

It is indeed a hedgehog. Easily my favourite local wild mammal species. :)

[turlough]

Hedgehog!! I haven't seen one here in years.

[angrboda]

We have occasionally seen signs of one in the garden, but not for a very long time so I was very pleased to see this one. They still live here. :)

[full_metal_ox]

Aww! We don’t have those little guys in my country, except in zoos or as exotic pets.

[silveradept]

Hello, little hedgie. Hopefully, you've been escorted to a safer place.

[angrboda]

From where it is, it's got easy access to not only our garden but also both our neighbours' gardens, so I'm sure it's fine. :)

[weofodthignen]

A nice fat hedgehog! How lovely, and an endorsement of your garden.

[angrboda]

Yes it was quite large, so we're thinking it's definitely not one that was born this year. :)

[yourlibrarian]

I have never seen one in the wild!

[angrboda]

A healthy hedgehog wouldn't normally come out during the day, so they're fairly rare to see. If you see one sitting on the lawn during the day, it's probably sick. Usually you'll just see signs of them, like some poo or something.