Little things

 I'm finding it difficult to produce regular content for this venture, purely because there are only so many images of hedgehogs eating from a bowl that can be used before they become boring? The animals continue to visit our garden on a nightly basis and are eating increasing amounts as the need to build up fat reserves becomes ever more important; prior to hibernation. 500 grms of Tesco Kitten biscuits last just three nights, topped up with a sprinkling of "Spike's" semi-moist hedgehog food. Most mornings the bowl is empty yet, on the odd occasion it is not, the local Herring Gulls and Magpies soon finish off the remnants.

One real highlight has been the sighting of a very young animal which has started to visit us. I'd checked with Hedgehog Street to see if this was an unusual situation but, was reassured to learn that it was not. All I needed to do is ensure that the animal weighs more than 500 grms, thus having the best chance of surviving a period of hibernation. So with this in mind I caught it, on Thursday night, and after showing it to Bev, was able to confirm that it did, indeed, weigh over this mark. It is in fine health and sped off into the darkness when released. I was worried that I might have frightened it away? Shouldn't have been as it was back at the food bowl within an hour!

It will be interesting to see how long these creatures continue to use the feeding station prior to their "long sleep". It won't be any hardship putting out the food even if all that eats it is the gulls and Magpies!

Still they come

 Most evenings see me sat in my study, camera kit at the ready, awaiting the arrival of hedgehogs to our garden feeding station. Sometimes it might be as early as 19.30 hrs, whilst other nights I might not see one until after 22.00 hrs. I really don't have any preference, so long as these wonderful animals continue to thrive in our locality. With the onset of the Autumn period and the increased likelihood of overnight rain, I have taken to placing a shelter over the dry food bowl, basically to stop it getting wet and going mushy! Nothing particularly technical, just a piece of plywood placed on top of an upturned plastic container,  held in place by a paving slab and supported at the opposite end by a couple of old rod rests! It ain't pretty but it's certainly effective.

I'm still attempting to put together a gallery of the individual hedgehogs which I've been lucky enough to photograph at the feeding station. My guess is that around a dozen different individuals have been involved since we started the project back in April. Because they are so close to my study doorway, I'm at the absolute minimum focal length for the Sigma 170 - 500 mm lens and due to using manual focus, quite often the depth of field isn't adequate to keep the entire animal in focus, especially when they're head on! Let's be fair, if that's my only problem then I ain't got one! 

I remain fascinated by the interaction between the animals as they meet up at the feeding station. The noise, the posturing and, if all else fails, out and out violence that I have watched is far removed from the genteel creature Beatrix Potter portrays in her Tale of Mrs Tiggy-Winkle. It might just be a direct result of using the larger bowl but, I do feel that the hedgehogs are eating far more than earlier in the year, almost certainly in preparation for hibernation. After speaking with Gary Pearse, I have every intention of keeping food going out right into December, possibly beyond, if the weather remains relatively mild.