Hoorah, a hedgehog

[Tapio Dmitriyevich]

I've got a hedgehog in my garden. [Not a picture of mine]



I've seen him in wintersleep 2 yrs ago and I knew, my neighbor is feeding him. OK, maybe a different one. We all have holes in the fences for such animals and lazy cats.
But never seen him again. Yesterday evening, he was looking at me, pretty curious, then he hid behind the ivy at a wall. Yes, this is his place. I've got some very unaccessible places in my garden, animals like it.
I hope there won't be a conflict with my cats. Not sure if they like baby hedgehogs.

This weekend I'll build 2 or 3 housings.

[Anne]

He reminds me of a porcupine.  One came into our greenhouse/sunroom about 15 yrs ago.  Was he ever confident of his place in life!  I yelled at him through the patio door from our dining room and he never moved a muscle.  Then I pounded on the door.  Finally, not because he was frightened, but more likely because he wanted peace and quiet, he slowly ambled out the door of the greenhouse.  I thought he had a lot of nerve entering our living space like that.

We had 2 chow dogs, a mother and her son who loved to hunt together.  Many times they would have a porcupine cornered and come home with a nose full of quills.  That was a job for the vet.

[Tapio Dmitriyevich]

They are different, porcupines are bigger and I think more aggressive when in danger. Hedgehogs just get the form of a ball then, very passive knights

[zamyrabyrd]

Oh gosh, our hedgehog was such a sweetie (picture to the left). We took him in since we were afraid he might be run over by a car. But I eventually had to let him go in a big park. He got on with the cat OK but there was some competition over food. They have an amazing amount of determination if they want to get out of a certain place.

Please keep us posted on your precious little animal!!!

ZB

[Harry]

Yes I recognize this, I have also once in a while such a creature wandering in my garden. I consider that a good sign.

[ezodisy]

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[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Lovely!

But don't give it milk, that doesn't agree with hedgehogs...

[zamyrabyrd]

For HH lovers:
http://hedgehogcentral.com/

[Tapio Dmitriyevich]

A lot of white hedgehogs on the web site... In western europe, I think we only have the brown ones. In Africa, the white ones. Something must have gone wrong here

[Drasko]

Ёеееееееееееееееееееееееееееееееееееежиииииииииииииииииииииииииииииик!

http://rapidshare.com/files/128090248/egik.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/128094512/egik.part2.rar

Code Select Expand

pass: www.2baksa.net

[Sergeant Rock]

We discovered our first hedgehog within a few days of moving into our new house 18 years ago. It was a youngster who'd gotten trapped at the bottom of our outside cellar stairs. Since then we've had "hogs" in the Garten every year. We keep a water dish on the patio and put cat food, nuts and raisins out before we go to bed. We once found a hog in the driveway in December, a time it should have been hibernating. We caught it, weighed it and discovered it was unlikely to survive the winter. After calling the animal shelter, confirming the situation, we took it in, put it in a spare basement room. It never warmed up to us even though we feed it well and gave it a good home. It grew quickly to adult size and we released it in March:




Here are a few of our hogs on the patio: mother and brats:








Sarge

[Philoctetes]

God, those things are adorable.

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Wonderful pictures, Sarge!

[Renfield]

Wonderful pictures, Sarge!

Seconded. They really are adorable. And even beyond that, it's always nice to know of animals being lovingly cared for.

[uffeviking]

I don't think we have them in the States, at least I have never known of one here in the state of Washington. But we had one in Austria! Cute as a button and very friendly; he let me pick him/her up and hold in my lap, at first all rolled up and then when he realised no harm will come, unrolled and loved to have it's belly scratched! 

[zamyrabyrd]

Seeing Sarge's pictures reminded me that they like to shred paper also collect the darndest things, like string and pieces of cloth.

[Wanderer]

Nice little buggers!
Once, when out in the forests with my father (he worked for the forest administration and sometimes I went with him on patrols; I must have been about 13 at the time) we rescued three younglings, whose mother had been run over by a passing car. We found them waiting by her corpse on the roadside. We took them in for a couple of days (they were very friendly and kept licking our fingers) and then gave them to a local wild animal shelter the forest administration has.

[Tapio Dmitriyevich]

We keep a water dish on the patio and put cat food, nuts and raisins out before we go to bed.

Yes, I read they need to have enough weight for the winter sleep. But doesn't the outdoor feeding also introduce a rat problem, or do the hoggies eat their food all at once? I think I wouldn't feed them too much, maybe just if too thin later the year, because they should search their food by themselves. We've got a snail problem this year again, so a hedgehog can be very useful here.
I've btw never held one in my hand, I think I'd be very careful...

[ezodisy]

http://rapidshare.com/files/128090248/egik.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/128094512/egik.part2.rar

Thanks for that. Even though I've seen this short many times on Youtube, you're right, I should download a good copy of it, because if the difference in quality is similar to the downloaded version of Skazka Skazok compared to the Youtube version, then it'll be worth it.

[Tapio Dmitriyevich]

Uh, the video is scary and very well done. Not sure if the ending is a good ending? Don't understand russian... Reminds me of my time being a child, we watched "Der kleine Maulwurf"/"The small mole".