Hedgehog "families" as explained by a local hedgehog rescue lady - not what we think maybe!
"Mummy and daddy hedgehog and baby hedgehog
November 19, 2013 at 10:19 PM
This winds me up no end. Many people tell me about the cute little family of hedgehogs in their garden, so this year, instead of going round telling children that Santa doesn't exist, I'm going to wreck all your smushies about hedgehog families. MUWAHAHAHA.The realities of hedgehog 'families' are far away from anything most people imagine.
Mummy and daddy hog.
You what? These creatures are solitary. They don't live in pairs or groups. In spring or whenever the urge takes a mummy hog to do the naughty, and it has to be the mummy hog's decision, daddy hog gets no say in the matter, she will go looking for a mate. Well actually that's not true, she carries on as normal and waits for the males to appear. Please note I said males not male. All will become disconcertingly clear later on.
Males are wandering about aimlessly getting thinner and thinner as they desperately look for a female to mate with and forgetting to eat. When they trip over the object of their passion they will pester her by running around her in circles. She usually tells them what she thinks of them so when you see a pair of hogs in your garden, one running around like a loony and the other making a racket, that is what's going on.
If two males turn up a confrontation may well start. They push and shove each other, huffing and puffing like steam trains. A lot of head butting ensues and eventually the loser will curl up in a ball and is often rolled off down the garden by the victor until it's out of the way. The victor then goes back to his attentions on the female.
Now the mere fact he won a great battle in front of her doesn't mean that she will have anything to do with him and as there is no such thing as hedgehog rape due to her spines, he may have fought for nothing.
Mating
If she decides he's worth her time and she doesn't have a headache, she will lie flat on the ground, legs stuck out behind her and spines laid a bit flat so he can do whatever if he's agile enough. I shan't go further into the mechanics of the male appendage for fear of making male readers jealous but let's just say it's about half the length of his body and appears, in some of them at least, to be articulated. Think of an earthworm which has run at 90 miles an hour into a brick wall and you'll get the idea of what it looks like. Or ask any of our volunteers who have got a handful.
Once mating is over he clears off. That's it. No cigarette, no small talk, no did the earth move for you too?
Post event
Mummy hog carries on eating. If another male turns up later and she likes the look of him too, she'll repeat the process. She may do it again with another one and another one and.... Not that she's what you might call a floosie, she's trying to increase the odds.
Now that doesn't really make a lot of sense until you understand that research done a few years ago showed that a litter of hoglets can all have a different father. Solitary animals don't have the luxury of a dominant male with demonstrably good genes, they have to take what they can get, so by mating with several there is a good chance that one of the babies will survive.
Birth
Mum has to make her own nest and females can often be seen in daylight, rushing about with a mouthful of grass. She has the babies and will usually stay in the nest with them for the first few days after which she will feed the babies during the day and come out to eat for herself at night. If anyone or anything disturbs the nest in the first week she may kill and eat the babies. This sounds awful but makes sense. She can go on to have more babies. The babies won't survive without her - or some lunatic rescuer prepared to get RSI syringe feeding them every hour for days on end - so she saves herself.
Rearing
Mum will feed the babies, teach them to eat by themselves, protect them as much as she can but at around 5-6 weeks when they have all their teeth and feeding is getting decidedly painful she clears off. The babies are understandably confused and this is when they either get into trouble or hold their own. It's also the time when people see little ones running around their garden in a panic, yelling their heads off. They are looking for mum but she's not coming back.
Often these babies end up at rescues when there is no need. They are usually still in the nest and during the summer, as long as that is safe you can put out food and water for them until they calm down a bit. If you're worried call a rescue. At this time of year (November) you need to grab any little ones under 600g and get them to safety as they won't make it through the winter unless it's really mild.
Conclusion
So, Mummy and daddy hedgehog and baby hedgehog? Nah. If you see two big ones and a little one in your garden, it's just two big ones and a little one."
Taz x
Author
Topic: Wild Birds and all things to do with Nature (Read 1104492 times)