Watch, listen & learn

 Each night I set up my feeding station just a couple of metres away from my study doorway. Weather permitting, I am able to leave the door wide open and, whilst sitting at my laptop perusing the news and natural history websites that form my regular internet entertainment, listen out for the visitors. The noise a hedgehog makes, just crunching on the kitten biscuits, is astonishing. When two animals get involved in a spat the range of assorted grunts and snuffles is extraordinary. With my camera, pre-set, mounted on the tripod, I am easily able to move from the laptop to grab my photos whenever a visitor announces its' arrival.

Sitting behind the long lens, waiting for the next image to present itself, I have been able to witness some very interesting interaction between several individuals. Each animal has character and distinctive markings which become more obvious the longer I spend watching them. Three hedgehogs make up the bulk of the regular sightings, almost always it's one of this trio that first to come to the food whatever time I manage to get it out, usually within ten minutes! The general consensus is that hedgehogs which tolerate each other are siblings and I am unable to offer any evidence to say different. However, what I have noted is that size is not everything. There is one, particularly feisty, animal which, is quite happy to challenge much larger hedgehogs should they attempt to take control of the food bowl. 

To see a hedgehog tense up, spines raised, whilst emitting some vocal protest is a sure sign that another is in close proximity. Quite often the arriving visitor will also offer some audible notification of its' presence, well before it arrives at the food and water. One of the biggest surprises is just how quickly they are able to move, they are really fast when they need to be.

The animal at the front is registering its' disapproval as another hedgehog arrives 
at the feeding station.

It is a continuous journey of discovery and joy being able to spend my time with these superb garden visitors. Not too sure how many more weeks before they disappear for the hibernation period but, until then I hope for many more opportunities to learn about the social interactions of these fascinating animals.

Feeding frenzy

 A Saturday night and what better way to spent it than looking at the hedgehogs coming to the feeding station? Camera at the ready, the action was frantic once the first visitor appeared at 21.10 hrs. I watched from my study door right through to midnight and am confident that at least five different individuals were involved. At one point there were three together, two at the food the third at the water, whilst the most surprising sighting was the reappearance of the colour marked individual which I'd last seen, and photographed, on the 5th Sept. Activity was constant and I rattled off loads of shots as the animals continually visited the food and water. I need to sit down and go through the masses of images, I've recorded, to compile a gallery of the hedgehogs which have been attracted into the garden. Something else to put on the imminent lockdown "to do" list?

It's now Sunday night, I've just got home from a short session at the syndicate fishery and didn't get the food out until 22.05 hrs! Not to worry as the first visitor arrived within five minutes!!! Something worth considering, before starting out on a hedgehog feeding project. is that once they become accustomed to the provision of food and water, it may well become their primary source of nourishment. In many ways it mirrors the garden bird feeders and the reliance, of local breeding birds during the summer months, that is part and parcel of year round feeding. As the days start to shorten, our garden hedgehogs will be building up fat reserves to see them through hibernation. If you are unable to commit to a sustained feeding program it is best that you don't start now. This year's young animals don't have the luxury of being able to waste effort, burning valuable energy, in the hope that food might be provided? Please be aware that these are my opinions and have no science to back my thoughts. If you want to feed hedgehogs do it how and when you see fit - got to be better than not doing it at all?

Both flanks of the colour marked hedgehog. I hope that whoever did this is
proud of themselves. I'm going to call it Vic - short for "victim"!

The support network

 As I stated, at the end of my last post, I contacted The Hedgehog Preservation Society, in the hope of getting some clarity about the marking of wild hedgehogs and if there is any correlated central database which benefited from the practice? I got an wonderfully swift reply from Nicky Rowberry who explained the situation and, better still, pointed me in the direction of Hedgehog Street where my own sightings can be of assistance to those who use this data to promote the welfare of these fantastic animals. What is mind-blowingly obvious is that hedgehogs don't have the same legal status as all UK bird species. It seems that no license is required to mark these wild animals, nor any legal requirement to register such activity. All very strange when viewed from the outside. 

New bowl? No problem!

It was another great night around the feeding station, on Thursday, with three different animals turning up between 21.30 & 23.00 hrs. Bev had been across to The Range and purchased me a larger bowl to use for the dry food. I was a little worried that it might be too high; shouldn't have been! One thing's for certain, they won't be able to to tip this one up.

Further exploration of the internet has resulted in me (& Bev) becoming a "Hedgehog Champion" and enrolling into the scheme. Not overly sure as to what we'll be able to offer beyond another statistic on their list, but it will enable us to access even more helpful advice? Apparently our registration was number 84,650 on the list - that's a lot of hedgehog fans out there in UK cyber space. As Tesco, quite rightly, pointed out during their advertising campaign "Every little helps" and that's exactly how I see my involvement/support. 

In the spirit of Hedgehog Street I will do my best to encourage my neighbours to use their gardens in a hedgehog friendly manner. They already think I'm a raving nut-nut with my mothing, birding and butterfly antics. Cut a hole in your garden fence - yeah that'll work - NOT!!!!! Fortunately, the adjacent gardens also have the Newlands Farm fields as their backdrop and, as such, the local hedgehogs will have little problem accessing any garden they chose and to be honest, there's no real reason why the animals can't enter from the front of the properties? We certainly have hedgehogs using the shared drive between our, and the neighbour's, bungalows as Bev & I witnessed recently whilst putting out the recycling bin. 

There are no limits to where this project takes me. The undeniable joy of watching these animals up close, without any negative impact, is a real privilege. With the prospect of another lockdown period becoming more likely as the Covid virus embarks on a second wave, there are several things that I'd like to attempt if time is available yet travel restricted. I'll be loading the van with some scrap pallets when I get back into work on Monday afternoon. Another Hedgehog Hilton is one desire, but making some nest boxes for the garden birds also high on the agenda.

Data correlation

 It was back in April when I photographed the first, of what I now know to be, colour marked hedgehog in the garden. Not having any idea of what I was looking at, I dismissed these aberrations as naturally occurring discolouration of their spines, and happily used these distinctive patterns as a method of identifying the individual animals coming to the feeding station. Six months down the road and I now find myself asking very serious questions about the practice of marking. What opportunities are being missed by not having a central database by which such sightings can be registered, thus allowing a greater insight into the population status and distribution of these fabulous creatures?

For what purpose was this animal marked?
With no central database, my sighting adds nothing to the collective understanding of
the current population status around Thanet (Kent in the bigger picture!)

Having arrived at this garden hedgehog project via my lifelong obsession with all things to do with wildlife, I am very aware of the huge scientific benefit that is a direct result of community science. The data collection gleaned from the everyday sightings of the man on the street. I think that the RSPB Garden Birdwatch is probably the best example, yet will readily admit to an admiration (and involvement in) for the various colour ringing schemes used to study the population dynamics of many bird species, under the umbrella of the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) by which members of the public can get involved with data collection which has real scientific value.

I've sent an email to the Hedgehog Preservation Society, asking for clarification about the situation; who correlates these marking schemes and for what purpose? It will be very interesting to read their response.

Tips, tricks and handy hints

 It would be ridiculous to ignore the huge resource that is available due to the wonders of "Google" and associated internet links. Via this cyber library my new found enthusiasm, for these nocturnal visitors, is amply catered for with a simple tap on a link. It opens up massive opportunity to discover how other, like minded, souls are catering for their own garden hedgehogs and, as a newbie to the caper, gives me great insight into how I can hone my own efforts.

What it looks like in September, having been weathered for a while.

This project didn't really get going until late April due to my employment situation. The very start of lockdown being a time when work was still extremely busy and, as within the chemical manufacturing industry, deemed essential? I make ink for f*cks sake! Obviously, at the outset, my priority had to be establishing a feeding station but, having perused the Wildlife Trusts website I wanted to also provide a hedgehog house within the garden boundaries. Under no circumstances could I describe myself as a "handyman" yet by following the very basic template was able to construct a wooden box, with a tunnel entrance ramp, which is perfectly suited for the purpose intended.

A shot from May when the "Hedgehog Hilton" was first placed in the garden.

I was to be furloughed for a total of seven weeks, out of sixteen, before work got back to some type of normality and, alongside the BWKm0 garden bird watching challenge, it was spending time watching the antics of the garden hedgehogs which kept me sane. Just to know that these animals were still present within the West Dumpton area was a real thrill yet, it was only once I'd started to photograph the visitors to my "al fresco" feeding station did I begin to realise just how many individuals were involved.

Drinking water is just as important as the provision of food, especially during dry periods, as 
we've been experiencing lately. To be fair, it's just the same as feeding the birds!

Right from the off I have to say a massive thanks to Cathy Newbury, over at Maxim's Pet Shop, who was able to supply me with "Spike's" commercially produced hedgehog food. I'm a regular customer there, buying my aviary bird food plus hemp & pigeon tonic seed to make my particle mix for carp fishing. My wife, Bev, has also enjoyed the fact that we're once again hosting hedgehogs in the garden and it was on a visit to "The Range" that she purchased some cheap (4 / £20) solar powered "rock lamps" which I now use to illuminate the bowls containing food and water, thus assisting my photographic efforts. The light given off by the devices is very subdued, causing no issues with the animal's feeding behaviour, yet is enough to allow me to compose, and focus, my image before firing off a shot.

All I can say is how extraordinarily grateful I am to all those bloggers and website owners who are prepared to offer such fantastic advice via the cyber system. If it's "Tips, tricks and handy hints" you're looking for, the internet is where to find them. Thanks for visiting; 'til next time - take care & stay safe.

The start of a new venture

 Hi,

Not too sure how you got here but this is my secondary blog which I have started in order to concentrate on the fantastic situation revolving around the hedgehogs which visit my garden feeding station. I make no claim to be any type of expert on the behaviour, health and well being of these superb creatures; simply blown away that, since lockdown, I've been able to attract them into the garden by regularly providing food and water. I'll use this first post as a way to introduce myself and explain why I felt the need to start a new blog. 

This little chap is the very first hedgehog that I photographed after setting up
our garden feeding station - April 2020

So here goes! My name is Dylan Wrathall. I, and Bev who's now Mrs W, moved to our current address in November 2000. Although within the Ramsgate boundaries, West Dumpton is a little more rural and far less "kiss me quick" seaside in its' appeal. Our bungalow has the fields of Newlands Farm as a boundary and the Pyson's Rd Industrial Estate as a backdrop beyond them. Wildlife has been my obsession since childhood, growing up in the New Town of Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, during the 1960's. My life has taken me down a long and twisting journey, as the years passed and events happened, and I now find myself fast approaching retirement and loving life! The hedgehogs have really become a part of my life purely as a bi-product of the Covid-19 pandemic. During "lockdown" it was obvious that I'd go stir crazy if I couldn't find something to occupy my time, so the advent of the garden bird watch (BWKm0) initiative was a huge relief and, as a result, led on to the establishment of a garden hedgehog project. With so many fellow bloggers in the same predicament, garden wildlife became central to all our blogging and proved to be a hugely productive period for all those involved. 

Way back in 2001, hedgehogs were a pain in the arse being so numerous that road casualties were an everyday sight. My issues revolved around the fact that these spiny denizens of the dark were constantly patrolling the garden moth trap and eating the moths which were attracted by the light yet failed to enter the funnel, instead perching on the outside and thus fair game for ravenous hedgehogs? It was only after the catastrophic population crash that I actually realised how much I enjoyed having these animals around. Too late, too late, will be the cry!

I have no data to support any of my assumptions, yet I guess it was over a decade ago when the Thanet hedgehog population took an absolute dive. I wasn't particularly bothered because I simply didn't have any interest in the matter. I am hugely indebted to Julie & Gary Pearse for the resurrection of my enthusiasm for these wonderful creatures. Gary (with whom I work) showed me some images of hedgehogs that Julie was feeding in their garden, which would have been around 2016? Although I was mightily impressed it took the pandemic to spur me into action. If they could do it, so could I.

So here we are in September 2020 and Dylan has started a new blog dedicated to the hedgehogs which visit his Thanet garden. I'm not too sure how regularly I'll be making posts but, one thing is a given, I'm happy to share the enjoyment of garden hedgehogs with whoever visits my new blog. I'll write more about the feeding station and what camera kit I use in future posts. In the mean time, thanks for visiting and feel free to leave a comment (they won't appear until I've had chance to approve them) STAY SAFE .