Hedgehog nest
- David Riddell
- Posts: 963
- Joined: Sat Jul 18, 2009 3:46 pm
Hedgehog nest
Annette got the fright of her life this afternoon while weeding the edge of a shrubbery area when she uncovered a hedgehog nest! She was very concerned she may have inflicted some damage with the pointy end of her Japanese Niwashi gardening tool which she was wielding with great vigour against the creeping buttercup, but mother and the three babies all seem fine. The babies' eyes are not open, and they were making high-pitched squeaks, very like riflemen. Have put a clump of weeds back on top of them and are leaving them to it.
- David Riddell
- Posts: 963
- Joined: Sat Jul 18, 2009 3:46 pm
Re: Hedgehog nest
Just an update - checked on them the following day (Saturday), the mother was gone and there were five babies. Thought they might have been abandoned, but just had another look, and she's constructed a tight little ball of dead leaves and debris under the weed clump. When I gently tried to pick it apart, a hoarse hissing noise issued from within! Not too worried about hedgehog predation here in the central Waikato, where there are no threatened ground nesting birds in the vicinity. The ground nesters we do have on the property (mallards, pukekos, pheasants, spur-winged plovers) are all doing fine.
- Neil Fitzgerald
- Site Admin
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- Location: Hamilton, New Zealand
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Re: Hedgehog nest
They are very cute. It is a shame they are out of place here.
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Re: Hedgehog nest
The hoarse hissing sound may have been a result of giving birth to five little bundles of prickles
C
C
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- Posts: 1875
- Joined: Fri Jul 03, 2009 10:43 am
- Location: Christchurch
Re: Hedgehog nest
As a kid in UK we used to find hedgehog babies often; when first born the little piglets have rubbery spines so giving birth, apart from the number involved, shouldn't be too traumatic, Colin. When our dorty was small, in our Chch garden we used to feed them dogfood under a sheet of plywood held up on bricks, until I discovered what pests they can be in NZ.
- David Riddell
- Posts: 963
- Joined: Sat Jul 18, 2009 3:46 pm
Re: Hedgehog nest
Spotted what I presume was the mother hedgehog last night with one of her babies, who was squeaking loudly as it wandered around on our driveway. Well after sunset hence the blurring on the baby. Have put up a short video on Youtube.
https://youtu.be/MLnmcWBi-Tg
https://youtu.be/MLnmcWBi-Tg
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- Posts: 1875
- Joined: Fri Jul 03, 2009 10:43 am
- Location: Christchurch
Re: Hedgehog nest
There's a lovely youtube piece called Hedgehogs in the Garden