I am so sad

The hedgehog has gone! I am so sad.
The good news is they do normally depart the nest never to return. We have also looked everywhere and he's not lying injured or worse anywhere, so he's just gone looking for hedgehogs.
I am still leaving some food out just in case.
That is one hedgehog that would not be here today and its fantastic that he has integrated into the wild.

He's still there

You know the first thing I did this morning was rush outside to the garden and sneak a peek inside the hedgehog house. It was quite early as I didn't sleep all that well - I was worried about the hedghog. Guess what? he was curled up fast alseep in his little house. He had obviously had a party as the living area was a bit of a mess but that means he's made it home!
I was very good and didn't wake him but left him undisturbed with fresh food and water for when he wakes later.
This evening I will sit quietly inside the house and look for when he starts to forage across the lawn.

Moving on

The hedgehog is big enough to be released. Every day he has spent time in the garden as well as his new home, but that doesn't mean he has orienteering skills!
This morning I have put his house outside in a corner of the garden.
I chose the morning as he sleeps most of the day and he should be inside his little house. I am so afraid he will not be there in the morning!
he had a bit of a scratch about and found a snail which he munched.
I put his food and water near his box, I did succumb to putting his comfort flannel inside the box as well as Im sure he will want it!
He has now been outside for about 4 hours - I had to peek and guess what so far he is fast alseep inside his house.
Let's see what happens tomorrow!!
This is worse than having children leave for university.

I went shopping

So this feels a bit like a confession!
I have been waiting for my husband to start making a hedgehog house and so far there is no sign of anything.
Then yesterday I was shopping and on the top shelf of the pet store was this lovely little 2 room, pine version (see the pictures). It shouted to me 'buy me, buy me, buy me' I am sure you know what I mean. Anyway out came the little square of plastic and home we came. The lid comes off so I can clean it out every now and then and the bedroom is separate from the main bit (the lounge). Its made of pine wood and smells lovely, just like walking in the forest.
I am just hoping no one asks me what it cost because that is higly confidential but needless to say its a good job the credit card bill is not due for a whole month now!
I am going to see if I can make it fit inside his present residence so he can make it smell like home. trust me he will make it smell. Its the one thing I wish I could share with everyone else.
I am just amazed at how much poo a small hedgehog can make at night. he is still partying!! Everyday we start again with a clean house and newspaper.

The next step

Okay so we have mastered foraging, well, sort of but time will tell!
The next thing is learning to build a nest. Now it may have escaped your notice but I am human and a hedgehog is well a hedgehog. So how do I teach him to build his nest. This along with the foraging is a vital part to surviving in the wild. although I think the wild will be our back garden for a start.
The hedgehog presevration society suggest ripping up strips of newspaper or putting straw into the living spcae and encouraging the hedgehog to make it into a nest.
Over the weekend I have given him some newspaper everyday. The most amazing thing is he instinctively gathers the strips in his mouth and pulls it into his pouch. I have had to make him a new pouch out of some fleece as he was really getting a bit big for the store bought one. It is similar to how he has been pulling the comfort flannel into his space, so maybe he doesnt have issues after all, he was just doing what hedgehogs do.
He has made a circle of the strips and is curling up in the middle of them plus the flannel of course.

Monday 2nd August

I can't believe its a whole month since the hoglet appeared in our lives.
he has grown so much. I eighed him yesterday and hes now about 9 oz (250 gms) so he is half way to being big enough to be freed into the wild.
I took some new pictures of the foraging expedition on the lawn. he digs into the ground and then sniffs for food. So far he has found a snail and a beetle. Both were eaten with relish. he will be a great bug catcher if he stays in the garden.
I tried him on some banana and he just loved that. Think I might try some seeds or nuts next.

Thursday 29th July 2010

What do hedgehogs do at night? yes I know they are nocturnal and that is when they are active but this hoglet is still feeding in the day and learning to forage as well. He should be too tired to do much at night!
Now he's getting bigger and eating some cat food (as well as his favourite worms!)he is pooing more and it is definitely getting more smelly. So, every morning I clean his home, put fresh newspaper around the bottom and then put his soft chenille towel for a bed and on that goes his furry pouch and a flannel.
The flannel goes over the top of the pouch in case he needs some privacy. He takes the flannel label and pulls it in his mouth so it covers the entrance to his pouch and then tucks the label under his head (I tried to photograph this as its the cutist thing but as soon as I start to move the flannel he moves as well, so have not succeeded so far). Did you know hedgehogs had comfort tags? I am a bit worried he may have a complex.
Anyway I'm getting distracted, the whole point of this was what goes on at night?
You see in the day he poos in one end on the newspaper, so I carefully put some extra and tuck it up around the edges a bit in case his aim is not too good. he is male after all!
Well this morning, he seemed to have managed to poo at the wrong end and up the only bit of unprotected wall of his home. So was he having some kind of all night party and got lost on his way to the bathroom end?
He was also very hungry this morning and managed to eat unmashed cat food. At the time I did not think about the post party munchies (but maybe!) my reasoning for that was yesterday during the garden forage for worms, he found a snail and started to eat it. Yes, I can confirm that snails also make hedgehogs self anoint but they also get covered in snail slime and then it gets transferred to their spikes.
Actually I think that answers my whole question about the extra poo and the smell. The moral of the story is 'don't eat snails at partys'.