planting with wildlife in mind

Escarpment, I am out every other night, except for when it rains, feeding hedgehogs. Not too concerned about foxes or badgers and anyway, badgers kill hedgehogs, apparently.

 

Yes badgers do kill hedgehogs, years ago a Christmas Quiz on a Radio 4 nature programme played a horrific sound (made a vixen sound like an opera singer) and the answer was a hedgehog being killed and eaten by a badger; the quiz was never repeated.
I've also seen a video of a badger catching a rabbit, Dartmoor one sunny evening, entrance of a sett with young badgers playing watched by adults, a rabbit runs across the scene, adult badger runs after it and then returns with dead rabbit. Adult badger didn't half shift.

 

They must be desperate to do that, it's not exactly an easy meal is it?

 

Doubt if they're that desperate lots of rabbits around on Dartmoor and hedgehogs just roll up and hope, the badger rolls it over and is strong enough to unroll it and eat it.
Badgers are omnivorous and not fussy.

 

Yes, I realise now I've seen an eaten-out hedgehog before. It was on the pavement just around the corner from me. I've never actually seen a live hedgehog in my garden and that may be due to the large badger population here.

 

I hope my Hhogs ( or any others ) don't read this thread or perhaps we should follow the rest of the media and put a warning on......."some of these posts may be distressing"

 

"If you have been affected by the issues raised ... curl up into a ball and hope for the best"

 

Badgers are very strong animals, would easily rip an HH apart I think.

 

Our cousin lives in the new forest and told us about badgers eating hogs when I was little. I thought he was talking nonsense because they aren't fond of badgers down that way but it was completely true and one of the reasons they never see hedgehogs there.

Hedgehogs eat meat as well. They will happily munch on amphibians and take small rodents and birds if they get the chance, so don't be to hard on the badgers.

 

There was an awful report on X recently from a hedgehog rescue; they'd been handed in a starving baby found searching desperately for something to eat on someone's artificial lawn.

 

I saw something on tv last night.
Apparently if a mother is not able to get enough food to sustain the rearing of babies, she will desert them for the sake of her own survival.

 

We had a lady who lived nearby that took in hedgehogs if they needed help. Some years the summer was just as busy as the winter, if it was dry. The poor things don't know what to do, with warmer weather they often have a later brood who don't make it to hibernation size. I remember she had 25-30 one winter and it was a lot of work but since she stopped due to poor health a couple of years ago, the population locally has declined. We used to regularly see them runover on our roads but haven't seen any for a while. It is a sad sight but a good metric for local population.

 

No more planning for now.
The holly and gorse grows, or not, whatever.
Right now, I'm thinking, go around the perimeter with thistle seeds in the Autumn, how difficult can THAT be ? And then ? .......... well......... I don't know to be honest.
I SHALL, I'm sure, re-visit this forum at some point in the future.

Thanks again for your input.

 

" How difficult can that be ? "
I googled.
UGH!

 

It's been a while.
Am still all at sea with the planting, hence my forum name.
I planted a few gorse bushes but they are not doing well, more brown than green.
Am on the lookout now for something thorny that produces berries and will spread quickly across the garden, if such a plant exists.
Could do worse than brambles I suppose, just keep it down to about eighteen inches in.

I haven't seen any hedgehogs since I last posted and, although I have given up going out at night, putting food out, and watching for them, I have refreshed the nest-boxes with hay and hope to see evidence of their existence in the spring.