Hedgehogs habits etc

magicbastarder

not so much an issue with trading wildlife, but a friend was asking me if it was possible or even legal for him to bring a hedgehog into his back garden every so often, to help him cope with the amount of slugs he has - and leaving the gate open to allow the hedgehog escape (there is a green area with hedgerows directly opposite the house), or possibly leaving dog food out every so often to help it supplement its diet?

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

I think you and your friend need to read up on the natural history of the Hedgehog. They cover wide ranges and don't very often confine themselves to a single garden. Where is he getting the Hedgehog from? If it is anywhere locally then it will visit his garden of it's own accord if the garden is suitable.
There is no great need to supplement a Hedgehog's diet at this time of year and anyway I thought he had lots of slugs in the garden. Let your friend put some Hedgehog friendly features into the garden and Nature will take it's course. There is a mountain of stuff on this on the internet so I'll not repeat it all here.

Frankly I thought your question was a p!ss take but just in case you're serious...;)

Vegeta

It wasn't me! wrote: »

Also, as far as I know, trading in wild animals, protected or not, requires a licence to do so. If someone were to purchase a fox from someone without a licence to sell it, both would be guilty of an offence.

This is how I understand the legislation to be written also

Sigma Force

Think it's illegal to move around hedgehogs, what your friend could do is if a wildlife rescue is looking for a safe place to release hedgehogs that have nowhere else to go perhaps they could use the garden as a soft release site.

magicbastarder

Enoch Tall Cushion wrote: »

I think you and your friend need to read up on the natural history of the Hedgehog. They cover wide ranges and don't very often confine themselves to a single garden. Where is he getting the Hedgehog from? If it is anywhere locally then it will visit his garden of it's own accord if the garden is suitable.
There is no great need to supplement a Hedgehog's diet at this time of year and anyway I thought he had lots of slugs in the garden. Let your friend put some Hedgehog friendly features into the garden and Nature will take it's course. There is a mountain of stuff on this on the internet so I'll not repeat it all here.

Frankly I thought your question was a p!ss take but just in case you're serious...;)

i don't know exactly how many slugs a hedgehog eats, and i was concerned there wouldn't be enough in a 40ft by 25 foot garden, hence the question about supplementing the food. and as mentioned, the plan would have been to leave the gate open, as the garden is fenced all around with no other means of escape.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

magicbastarder wrote: »

i don't know exactly how many slugs a hedgehog eats, and i was concerned there wouldn't be enough in a 40ft by 25 foot garden, hence the question about supplementing the food. and as mentioned, the plan would have been to leave the gate open, as the garden is fenced all around with no other means of escape.

A fence won't keep most Hedgehogs in anyway. They are great climbers. As I said they don't live in a single garden and if your friends garden is Hedgehog friendly it probably has one visiting already. I have a regular vistor each night but I still find slugs. A Hedgehog won't eat them all by any means.

Where does he plan to get these Hedgehogs from whenever the slug population gets out of hand?

boneless

I just lopped off these from the fox thread as I feel the discussion merits a thread of its own.

magicbastarder

Enoch Tall Cushion wrote: »

Where does he plan to get these Hedgehogs from

a friend with a big garden which attracts hedgehogs; but the dogs belonging to said friend are a bit of a pest to the hedgehogs. one of the dogs killed a young hedgehog last year.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

So he'll pick up a Hedgehog at random from one garden and deposit in another without considering if said Hedgehog has a family or is quite content with it's existing territory? He needs to also consider why his garden does not appear to have Hedgehogs already (they are in many many more gardens then people realise) or if he'll be introducing an unsuspecting Hegdehog where there are some already, or to where there is not sufficient resources to support it, or habitat for hibernation, breeding etc.

magicbastarder

no, he won't.
you'll note that he was wondering if it was possible, and fully suspected it wouldn't be. he has his answer now.

BrianD3

Hedgehogs don't particularly like slugs, they may eat them but they are well down on the menu.