They were having a great time in there. No wonder the bowls were always getting emptied so quickly !!

Hi, have not had any being born in the Hog houses this year. However, we have at least two very small ones that have been visiting a lot and are clearly born this year. Not getting the numbers we first had but have identified around 5 five different hogs in the garden. Have not posted much as its basically been business as usual with the normal comings and goings.

Lol, yes that was a bit unnecessary I thought.

Hi John, yes the houses have a partition. They go through the entrance and turn left into the main chamber. Mind you they fill the main area so full they sometimes have a problem getting into the space. Its fascinating to see the work they put in, when come Spring I empty the houses and give them a good clean and repair.

Thanks John, appreciated. I was distraught when they disappeared for quite a few weeks, and very relieved when they returned. Hoping the little one stays for the winter. I have another 4 houses available and doing everything I can to attract any others in the area. Will see what happens, its nature so you never know how things will turn out.

@@alanfrew2904 fingers crossed then. I must say I've barely seen any this year ☹️

Hi, thanks for the comments. I am not sure about overall numbers in the area. Its pretty rural where we live, i.e. pigs just across the road, and many of the houses have large gardens. That said, you hear that nowadays its the Urban areas that are doing well. I still see at least 4-5 each night, which is about the same as previous years. The second half of the video shows the 4 bowls I put out each night and there is another feeding place with another 4 bowls, all of which is pretty much emptied each day. Its good to see some young ones though and I am hoping that there will be more in the near future. Glad to hear your dog and the hogs are now living in harmony lol

Hi, ok sorry misunderstood what you meant. I don't think anyone knows why they do the rubbing bit. I have seen many comments on Hedgehog Street over the years and I don't think even the boffins know what that is about. Some think its like marking a trail or similar but who knows. When I first saw it I was worried that there was a problem with the hog, but now realise that many of them do it. Nothing special about my video setup. I used to use the cheap Chinese cameras but now use mainly Brownings. I have 4 in different locations. I also mainly use those mini tripods so the camera is near ground level. One final thing that does help is adding a closeup lens to the front of the camera, stuck on with blue tac or similar. Most people use 37mm and you can a set of 4 quite cheap.

@@alanfrew2904 Thanks for your reply, very generous of you to spare the time. I can't imagine how long it takes to edit the film from four cameras. I'd like to improve my setup, but I think that'll have to wait until the inflationary crisis settles!

Hi, if by rubbing you mean the one hog pushing the other, then that's normal behaviour when two males find themselves at the same location. The dominant male will keep pushing the other one , and usually the weaker one goes into a ball and gets rolled away. In this case there was no where for the weaker one to roll as he was up against the fence. Usually after a short while the dominant one gets bored and goes off to find something to eat. The patterning as you call it is almost certainly done by people in order so that can identify individual hedgehogs. Along with a number of others who help the hogs I do not like to see this, but unfortunately it does happen a lot. If you are interested, you will see many examples of both male-male behaviour, male-female behaviour and the marking issue on my other videos (50+) all taken in my back garden over the last couple of years or so.

Yep, he's probably going to be off looking for his next conquest now. Will see what the coming months bring. The houses are all cleaned out and ready if needed 😀

Hi John, I was lucky with this one as they decided to congregate near the camera. Harvey has recently taken to doing some of his courtship a bit further away just out of reach of the camera. The total area covered by the camera/lighting is only around 6-10ft. I usually throw a handful of Calci worms in the middle which keeps them around the area, otherwise they would not hang around very long !

@@alanfrew2904 Cunning plan to lure them with the treats. I'm having two visit at the moment, not together, though. My camera is pointing more or less at the entrance to the food box, and I can tell quite easily how much of the entrance a hedgehog fills up! Mind you, nothing I've seen compares with your Harvey for size. The other day I found the food dish completely empty and clean (a rarity) and feared rats. However, on looking at the videos for that night, saw a disabled magpie negotiate the cat deterrent at first light and gobble up whatever was left. The bird has been hanging around my garden for about two weeks. Also I'm now hosting a massive pair of crows who are using the hedgehog's water dish as some kind of autopsy sluice! Yuck 😱

@@jwest4773 Hi John yes, the cameras reveal all that goes on under the cover of darkness. I also have had the occasional bird go into the covered feeding stations and help themselves. For most of the last 18 months I have had covers over the food bowels as a cat became a regular visitor a who clearly thought I was feeding him. I ended up putting ridge tiles in front of the entrances which he could not navigate. Have not seen the cat for a few weeks so taken the covers away, however, if I put the hedgehog food down too early the local bird population descends on them, even though they have a healthy supply of sunflower seeds, fat balls, mealworms and peanuts. Have recently cleaned out all the hedgehog houses and so awaiting to see who takes up residence this year. Harvey is still around, although its been a bit quiet the last few days. Still its always good fun to collect the camera cards each day and see what they have been up to.

Missing your updates on Harvey, hope all is well with you? I'm noticing ticks on "my" hogs already. I guess the mild winter and spring have given them a head start.

@@jwest4773 Hi John, I am still keeping an eye on things and have had occasional sighting of Harvey but he has not been doing his courting in front of the camera and so little to put in a video. What a spoil sport ! If I do get any decent footage I will be sure to post it on RU-vid. In the past I have seen ticks on some of the hedgehogs, usually only one or two but did have one that had quite a few. Problem is its difficult to catch them as they can appear at anytime of the night. I understand that in most cases they eventually drop off which is good. I have not seen the badly affected one for some time so hope it is still well. At the moment the Hogs are getting out and about more than I am, but they always seen to find room for the 7 bowls of food put out each night. Hopefully will see Harvey and his friends on camera soon. All the very best.

Hi John, he doesn't look like he is about to give up does he. Food wise, I have two feeding stations, one about 15yds from this camera and the other at the end of the garden. One has 4 bowls and the other 3 bowls. Each bowl is about 4" dia and 1.5" deep. The food consists of about 75% Hedgehog nibbles and 25% Calci worms. Everyday all the bowls are empty, and by the size of him you would think Harvey is eating the lot, but no, its pretty busy from around 20:00-03:00. Also have three water bowls which get replenished most days.

@@alanfrew2904 Thanks for the info. I seem to be having less hedgehog activity this year when really I thought there might be more about, considering the roads are quieter. Having said that, neighbours both sides of me have new dogs (I have one but TBH the hogs never seem to mind him) and also there's been an outbreak of garden tidying!

@@jwest4773 Hi John I think access is a really important factor. Many people have fences all around their gardens and unless they have put in Hedgehog Highways the hogs won't be able to travel across several gardens each night. I have one purpose built highway which you can see in the videos but there are another three leading to other gardens which are just holes under the fences. Also, we live in quite a rural area so maybe there are just more in the neighbourhood. We only moved to this area 3.5 years ago and accidentally discover the hogs while sucking up leaves. Been a big part of my daily routine since so that I now have 5 houses and the two feeding stations. I buy my food bulk usually 25kg at a time. I have always looked after the birds with several feeding stations so all together its a daily task off feeding the masses !

@@alanfrew2904 I have a bit of new fencing but the fences in my area are pretty ramshackle with gaps you could drive a bus through. We are a mix of small, very well established estates on the edge of a tiny town, the whole surrounded by fields. It's known as a good area for hedgehogs. I'm inclined to think that the almost unheard of activity, thanks to lockdown, with people remembering they have gardens is upsetting the hedgehogs! I buy bird food in bulk because they get through so much, but the HH food I buy locally. Mr Johnson's was very popular last year and I'm trying to source it (economically) on line for so long as the virus prevents me going to the shops. A question for you: do you know of any way to reduce the glare from a field camera. My newest camera is so bright the pictures are being spoilt. I fix it to the handle of an old garden fork, ever so slightly angled down about 10/12 ft from the main area of interest. Any suggestions welcome!

@@jwest4773 Hi John, I think the glare problem can sometimes just be the particular camera. I have three cameras. The most expensive (£80) is terrible at night video with poor contrast and quite blurry. The one that most of these videos are taken on is the best of the three and I am quite pleased with the results. I try and not point the camera down as this can cause glare and also I prefer to have the camera only a couple of inches above ground level looking straight ahead. Another thing to look at is that on some cameras you can select the IR sensitivity (Long Middle Near) and so if it is set to Long and you are targeting something Middle I guess it could cause glare as the light is trying to reach out further. My setup is such that the centre place where most of the action is seen is only about 3-5 ft from the camera. Note I think this is why the expensive camera looks blurry as I am probably too near the subject for the cameras lens. Most of these Trail cameras are for hunting or capturing targets several yards away, while the furthest any of my cameras are away from the Hogs is about 10 ft but mostly 3-4 ft.

Hi John, thanks. Yes the temperatures have been pretty good down here, no snow and just a couple of frosty days. Had a few days of sitting in the garden with a cuppa. I am fascinated by the hedgehog courting rituals and now have two male adults competing in this area. This footage is just one of the cameras which is near "house 2". I have two feeding stations which also have cameras and they show its pretty busy. I am in fact putting out seven 4" bowls of hedgehog food every night, hope supplies will last ! Hope all is well with you and your family. All the best.

Hi Tracy, sorry just seen your comment ! I have 3 cameras in different areas of the garden. The one used for most of the videos is a 16mp Aucee Tracker (£75) which seems to have the best night time video. The next best one is an Apeman 12mp camera (£65) and my 3rd camera is an EReagle which is not very good and night captures and ironically was the most expensive at £88. I bought all of them off Amazon and a few others I returned as they were very poor. I think its a bit hit and miss with the Chinese cameras, you can get a good one or bad one even though they appear to have the same spec etc. Hope this helps, if you have any other queries please let me know. Alan

Hi, lol. Just posted a new video from last night. The fellow in question is now nicknamed Harvey and spent a good 45 mins trying to impress !

John lol, yes you are right. I sort of thought the same and then dismissed it, but looking back at previous video's clearly shows the same adult is a male.

Thanks John, appreciated.

Thanks for taking the time to comment, its much appreciated.

@@alanfrew2904 I've seen most of your videos now, all excellent. Can't believe you have had 2 hedgehog families in residence, plus all the singletons! I have had many singles, including lone youngsters, which I catch on film nightly. By the end of October all activity ceased, food uneaten. I took one young (300 gms) individual to the vet. He was out during the day, he had quite a few visible ticks. The vet said the hedgehog had a heavy burden of immature ticks, also. So he dosed the hog and 24 hrs later I released him. He still returned each night for a few weeks, despite the experience of imprisonment and a trip in the car. Anyway, I think you're doing a marvelous job.

@@jwest4773 Hi, sounds like you are doing a really great job as well, especially with the trip to the vets and aftercare. I am fairly new to hedgehogs as we only discovered them following are move to a bungalow which had a much bigger garden than our previous 'New build'. I now have 5 hedgehog houses around the garden, all occupied. Things are a lot quieter now as they have started to hibernate. I put twigs up in front of the entrances to check for activity. That said, this morning all the twigs had been knocked over and the cameras picked up quite a bit of activity so clearly they are not ready for the 'big sleep' yet. Are you on Hedgehog Street, I find this a great place to find out stuff and to get a sense of community regarding our hedgehog friends !

@@alanfrew2904 I've probably knocked off the food and filming too soon, by the sounds of it. I have a new house ready to go out but haven't got around to siting it yet. TBH I'm not sure a hedgehog would ever consider my garden for actual nesting because I have a dog. He has met the hogs many times and he doesn't bother them, but I guess a hog might feel insecure knowing it's a dog's territory. Because my house is old ex council, the garden's not huge, but a decent size. It was basically a small field with a couple of mature trees when I bought it. After four years it's now brimming full of shrubs, deep borders with plenty of herbaceous perennials, and a couple of good sized veg plots. I've got two or three rough areas, too that don't get disturbed. My biggest concern is the road that passes the end of the garden. There are fields across the road where the hedgehogs go. Sadly, with the new houses going up in the area, the road is much busier than just a few years ago. Hedgehogs do get killed there, and on other previously quiet roads nearby. Such a hazardous life for hedgehogs! I read Hedgehog Street, especially if I have a query, because most hedgehog matters are to be found there. I have never posted, though. I'm lucky that we have a hedgehog rescue nearby, "Hobo's" hedgehog rescue, though they are always full. They will give out advice which is useful. I'll keep a lookout for your latest videos and news on "The Street". By the way, I noticed on one of your videos that a youngster had a few ticks. It's been a bad year in my area for ticks. I think most hogs can tolerate a few, but youngsters can become anaemic and weak, that's why the hog I took to the vet was bumbling about during the day. They are so precious and therefore such a worry!