Hedgehog help.

[#1]

No, I don't have a thing about hedgehogs, but given we are seeing less of them these days and with such hot weather can we think about putting out some water for them either during the day or at night.

I keep my bird bath clean and filled fresh each day, but let's not forget about these little fellas either. 

[#2]

I just saw one about half an hour ago, unfortunately a bit thinner than the one in the picture.  Then approximately 100 m further along the road was a well-battered badger with far more flesh exposed than you normally see, so possibly been partially eaten by something else I guess.  

[#3]

Eaten by Magpies would be my guess, at least around here they are when not tearing open those rubbish bags. Back in my day it we had a proper dustbin.... 

[#4]

It's also a good idea to leave gaps in the fence so they can easily get in and out.  Letting a section of the garden "go wild" is also generally good for wildlife.

We used to leave food out for hedgehogs, but found that it also attracted rats.

Hedgehog trivia:  Ancient Romans used to cover hedgehogs in clay and thow them into a fire.  When the clay had baked, they rolled the clay ball out of the fire and cracked it open.  Cooked hedgehog inside it's own pottery bowl, with all of those spines safely embedded into the clay.  Both genius and gross.

[#5]

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@Crunchie wrote:

Hedgehog trivia:  Ancient Romans used to cover hedgehogs in clay and thow them into a fire.  When the clay had baked, they rolled the clay ball out of the fire and cracked it open.  Cooked hedgehog inside it's own pottery bowl, with all of those spines safely embedded into the clay.  Both genius and gross.

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ISTR that was included in the Boy Scouts handbook many years ago, so there's something else the Romans did for us!

[#6]

@Crunchie 

Had a few folks tell me about leaving food out for hedgehogs - pet food seems to be the favourite but as I keep pointing out as well, it just attract rats. We had to give up keeping chickens because of the little blighters even with our then Jack Russell doing his best to chase them down. 

[#7]

We also had to stop feeding the birds as well - the rats got attracted to the spilled seeds.  There are feeders that claim to retain the spilled feed, but they're large and ugly things.

We can't put poison down as we have dogs (not to mention other wildlife).  All we can do is remove the incentive for rats to visit.

[#8]

We only feed birds in the winter - so that wipes out the rat attraction for at least nine months of the year. The bird table is set on a pole with a large upturned flower pot under it which stops rats and squirrels climbing up and over, and for our hanging peanut/fat ball feeder I have a fitted one those flower pot trays to catch any spilled feed.  

Both seem to work and we now very rarely see rats in the garden but come winter I still put out one of those rat/squirrel cages if we do spot any. Poison as you say not a good idea and ironically, it will also attract the rats! 

[#9]

@Crunchie 

Those pesky rats! 

[#10]

Hedgehog's like cat food, always keep a tin in should we see any hedgehog's but sadly the increasing number of houses in this area corresponds to a reduction in the number of hedgehogs seen apart from those killed on the road

[#11]

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@gleneagles wrote:

Hedgehog's like cat food, always keep a tin in ...

Now there's an idea ...

I wonder if any roadkill aficionados have thought of tinned hedgehog for those occasions when there's no fresh available ...  

[#12]

I have a few Magpies in my garden, usually taking advantage of the birdbath. Personally I wouldn't appreciate someone taking a bath in my drinking water.

My greenhouse is currently empty with the door slightly open and the roof vent open about 2".

I was watching my cat run down to the greenhouse and noticed a Magpie in there. I guess it slipped in through the roof vent.

I went inside hoping to chase it out through the wide open door but no matter how much encouragement his mates shouted from the apple tree, he stubbornly refused to exit.

I went outside and round the back waving my arms and out he flew, much to the amusement of his wiser friends.

[#13]

Magpies can be a pest and are always the first into the garden if any food is spotted. As for the bird bath it gets cleaned and topped up each day as said. We only have a small greenhouse so it does not have vents in it so in the summer I take out the top bits of glass from each apex - the door is left open all the time so any birds (and bees) that find themselves in there, eventually find their own way out.

Chasing it around like that @Strat I'm surprised you did not lose a piece of glass! 

Only have chillies in mine this year - three Carolina Reaper plants grown from seed and now just about to flower.

[#14]

When I leave the greenhouse door open, cats go in there and there have been fights resulting in broken panes.

Therefore I keep it open about an inch in Summer.