September 2010 - Hoglets now young Hedgehogs

Thursday 9th: The Hoglets are now reaching the end of week 12 and have grown to such an extent that they can be called "young Hedgehogs". It's now approximately 4 weeks since they began to spend all night and day outside in the penned garden. Their weight tends to fluctuate by a few grammes on a daily basis but on the whole, the Hedgies are gaining the weight and thus, the fat reserves. All three at last are ahead of target for their weight according to
http://www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk/, but are not ready for release yet. Having researched the subject of; "release into the wild", we believe that the Hedgies need to be over 700 grammes minimum weight in order to survive the Winter and hibernation.

At the moment, the male is far from ready. Weighing only 588 grammes and although healthy , fit and with a heavy set of quills, he has shown no inclination to making a nest, eating live insects, or showing any purpose in what he does. He does eat dried cat food and live mealworms and would readily eat all that we have, but mealworms are not generally found in abundance in the wild! It maybe that come late December, he may be staying behind but as yet it is still too early to make any decision about him.

The two females weigh-in at a hefty 690 & 670 grammes. Both have a heavy set of quills covering their bodies but like the male, are not eating live insects only live mealworms and dried cat food! Although one of them made the nest that all three tend to sleep in, the second female has shown no interest or need to build a nest.

The big question that faces us is; "If released in the next month or two, would they survive or starve?" I keep coming back with the answer; "they would starve!" These Hedgehogs are not wild animals, they were not born into the wild and know nothing of the wild and how to hunt for food. They were born by the patio door and abandoned/orphaned after a few days. Mel has done a monumental job in raising these three Hoglets to become young Hedgehogs. Though, they still have along way to go. For us, it would be cruel to release these animals into an environment that they have no instinct for. Better that they stay in the environment that they know until the time comes when they show us they are ready to leave!