I will be keeping a look out as always, its on my list to get some kind of food too. They usually need a little encouragement!

Hi All, am new to the forum just found it browsing. My handle is Pine Marten. Christian name is William.

Have 3 hedgehogs that come to feed in my small garden, but they seem to come one at a time. Managed to get some pics of one of them. At the moment am feeding them my bird food. Suet pellets and dried mealworms. They seem to enjoy it, and the dish is empty in the morning.
I intend to get them their own dishes and if i can somewhere they can get into to feed.

Here is a link to the photos i took of one of them.
http://willpar.myphotoalbum.com/view_alb...me=album29

P.M

Hello William, Welcome to WildlifeUK, and thank you for the link to your photos. The hedgehog in your link looks quite happy and well fed, so you must be doing something right!

Kingfisher

Hi Kingfisher, many thanks for taking the time to look. Yes they seem to enjoy what they are eating. The mealworms are a natural food. I would like to do them a proper feeding station in the near future. Been looking it up on various sites. Now i have them visit would like to do my best for them.

P.M

We actually used wrote an article covering all sorts about hedgehogs for our recent website launch - including what to feed and what not to feed them, hibernation facts etc. It would be good to get some constructive feedback on it from people who know about hedgehogs (there shouldnt be too many errors as it was proof read by the british hedgehog preservation society).

The article can be found here, and any feedback would be greatly appreciated:

http://www.gbwildlife.co.uk/post/Hedgeho...prowl.aspx

Many thanks for the info. Will certainly look it up. Am new to feeding them, so should prove very helpful.

P.M

Our local hedgehog has been out and about a few times lately. I got some photos this evening (tempted with a small amount of dog food). I can watch them for hours. No shortage of slugs in our garden though!

Hi, i enjoyed your hedgehog pics. Thanks for posting. Very well taken.

P.M

I leave out cat food for my Hedgehogs, which are often heard scuffling with each other. Content crunching is always heard in the late evening. Sometimes I sit out there and catch shots by laying down very still so they don't notice me..

lovely picture C C ,do you put out dried food of the tinned cat food?

I just put out dried and some water. Our cats live outdoors and like to eat when they please so they'll always be a little left for the Pedgepigs!

Jamie I have just posted our first hoglet rescue & then saw this thread. Something that you said about feeding hedgehogs cat food. The woman from rescue told me last year that it would be better if people didn't leave cat food out for them during the day as it encourages them to come out looking for food during the day which upset their natural rythms & causes problems. It would be better to feed them during the evening as this is more in line with their natural behaviour. Cat/dog food is quite acceptable as long as it is not fish based, although you can always dig some worms up!!!

This post was last modified: 22-08-2008 03:36 PM by tibbar.

The main reason not to put out tinned cat / dog food in the day is because of flies. They lay their eggs on the food which is then ingested by the hedgehogs. Dried food does not have this problem.

By the way, if you do feed tinned cat or dog food, please make sure that it is not the fish varieties.

Every hedgehog is different and they have individual tastes. As mentioned earlier, water is probably the most important supplement.

I run a rescue centre for hedgehogs, you can find plenty of information there if you wish.

http://www.wfhr.org.uk

I just put out dried and some water, sometimes something a little nice like ham or something, if one is feeling generous!

We have lived in a smallish suburban avenue for about six years now and I have never seen a hedgehog except dead and squashed on the roads for years before that. Last week, just after Saturday lunch, early afternoon, I happened to look out of the kitchen window and there was this little creature happily munchng on the slugs which I had noticed crawling about in the wet grass.

I walked out very slowly and quietly and put down a small amount of cat food, this little thing obviously smelled the food and came trundling over to the saucer, munched up the food, snuffled a few times, trundled off again.

Today he/she was in search of the last of the summer strawberries which grow just outside the greenhouse, totally oblivious to two cats and two humans watching it in silent fascination from just inches away inside the greenhouse.

An absolute delight. We are planning a winter hibernation posting....an old cat basket stuffed with hay inside the old fabric covered shelter at the end of the garden...fox proof, cat proof, and should be warm enough, shielded on two sides by wood fences and on another side by thick bushes....

Ah well......wish it luck! xx