October 2010 - Hedgehog Hibernation Houses!

Friday 22nd: The nights are drawing-in and Autumn is finally upon us. It will soon be time for the three Hedgehogs to hibernate for the Winter. So the other night we went to the local DIY store and purchased some wood so that Melanie could construct the houses that the hedgehogs will use for the duration of their hibernation - that is if they decide to!

After spending the best part of the week building them, Mel tonight transferred the Hogs from the old cardboard shelters to these nice wooden boxes. Two have been built as that was what we reckoned was needed... "Pinky", the female that prefers her own company and is behaving rather squarely, has her own box. "Little-Lad"(not so little now), the male and "Grumpy", the other female, we thought, shared the other cardboard box and so Mel built a slightly larger wooden house. Well it turns out that "Grumpy" sleeps on her own too and the male has been cast out to sleep rough under a make-shift shelter... no wonder he likes to come into the kitchen at every opportunity!

Update 4/11/2010:

Mel has since built a third hedgehog house for Little-Lad and he has finally moved-in. All the hogs now appear to be using the houses and with the onset of the early dark nights, both "Pinky" and "Little-Lad" are out and about at 5pm. "Grumpy" meanwhile, stills likes to awaken later. They tend not to spend so much time in the kitchen now, preferring to be outside. The Hedgies have not shown any inclination as yet to hibernate. This is not unusual as the weather is still relatively mild.