Hedgehogs In November (written for Brackley HogWatch by Kay Bullen) Any hedgehogs seen out and about at this time of year are likely to be struggling. This applies to small autumn juveniles and even larger hedgehogs. The reason they hibernate is that in the cold weather their natural food is much less abundant. So if they are still awake now they are either unwell or they do not have sufficient fat reserves to hibernate AND still wake in a good enough condition to warm up and search out food and water. Exceptions might be a regular...
read moreHedgehogs in October Many of the larger hedgehogs have already gone into hibernation but there will still be plenty of hedgehogs about both large and small. The leaves will be falling from the trees now and these will provide extra bedding for the hedgehogs’ winter nests, these nests are called hibernaculums. It isn’t just the hedgehogs that benefit from the fall of leaves. Birds love them too – they can be seen turning over the leaves looking for grubs and creepy crawlies. Please do take care if you rake up these leaves as you...
read moreHedgehogs in September (written for Brackley HogWatch by Kay Bullen) The race is on to prepare for hibernation. Female hedgehogs will be bringing on their late youngsters but they too need to build up their fat reserves to survive hibernation. The youngsters on the other hand are small and vulnerable. They often have problems with small internal parasites at this time of year, especially lungworms. Adult and fat healthy youngsters can cope with a certain level of parasites but the smaller, younger and thinner ones will...
read moreHedgehogs In August All these changes to our weather make it difficult to predict how the hedgehogs will fare. The warm spell in March has lead to a number of litters being born very early. Those female hedgehogs with successful early litters and those with unsuccessful later litters will be thinking about having second brood. These are likely to be born in August and September, giving rise to the next batch of autumn juveniles. Very few autumn juveniles survive the winter. They are too small. But that’s another story. Damp weather...
read moreHedgehogs In July kindly written for Brackley HogWatch by Kay Bullen VN (Hedgehog Author, BHPS trustee and founder of a hedgehog rescue centre in Cardiff) There will be many female hedgehogs giving birth in July and those hoglets born in early June will soon be out foraging with their mothers. Hoglets are born blind and naked. However within 2 hours of being born a cushion of fluid that covers their first set of prickles is absorbed and the prickles appear. They have around 200 white prickles that are in straight lines running from...
read moreHEDGEHOGS IN JUNE kindly written for Brackley HogWatch by Kay Bullen VN (Hedgehog Author, BHPS trustee and founder of a hedgehog rescue centre in Cardiff) June is the time when many of the female hedgehogs will be giving birth to their hoglets. Having said that the mild weather in March has already resulted in a few early litters! A typical litter will consist of 4-5 hoglets. Sometimes the expectant mothers will suddenly decide to make further additions to their nursery nest or even make a last minute move to a new site. So you...
read moreHEDGEHOGS IN MAY kindly written for Brackley HogWatch by Kay Bullen VN (Hedgehog Author, BHPS trustee and founder of a hedgehog rescue centre in Cardiff) Most hedgehogs will be awake by now and the females will be thinking about having a family. Some will already be pregnant, whilst others still have the courtship ritual to go through. Hedgehog courtship is a very noisy affair. They are normally solitary animals and the females take a lot of encouragement to co-operate. On meeting with any hedgehog they will often huff and hiss,...
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