Tuesday, 21 June 2011

Snuffling Hedgehogs

About 10 p.m. last night I noticed another Hedgehog encounter where one charges at the other and pushes it away from the feed dish. They disappeared from the view of the camera so I didn't think any more about it. When I let Bobby out at bedtime he, as usual, went straight to the feeding area to check for his spiky friends. Nothing at the dish but he heard two hedgehogs snuffling away in the shadows nearby.

I had my LED torch so I could see them touching noses as they snuffled away. As I nipped in to fetch the Lumix I expected they would be long gone by the time I got back but this time my luck was in. They were so engrossed in this part of their mating ritual they took no notice of me, the torch light or the camera flashing.

Snuffling Hedgehogs 1

Snuffling Hedgehogs 2

I also managed to take a short piece of video with the TZ7, just with the illumination of the torch, so that should be ready for Friday at the Flicks.
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10 comments:

  1. ADRIAN21 June 2011 at 08:52

    Great shots.........So much entertainment from such a small beast.

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  2. ShySongbird21 June 2011 at 12:52

    So I am assuming then that the pushing isn't an argument over the food but actually part of the mating ritual? Lovely captures, Sergeant Bobby had them bang to rights! :)

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  3. Midmarsh John21 June 2011 at 14:28

    Thank you Adrian. They are quite an education to watch.

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  4. Midmarsh John21 June 2011 at 14:31

    I think some of the charging and pushing is part of the mating ritual Jan. I love watching them tentatively rub nosed - just like shy young teenagers on a first date daring to take a quick kiss whilst unsure of the reaction.

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  5. holdingmoments21 June 2011 at 18:33

    Maybe the patter of tiny spikes?
    So much goes on in your garden John. :-)

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  6. twosiehedgehog21 June 2011 at 23:35

    Hi John, we are delighted to hear the good news.

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  7. Shirley22 June 2011 at 10:20

    Great capture, John. Seen this behaviour just a couple of times. I agree, the hedgehogs are not disturbed by us at all. Would love to catch this on film so look forward to seeing your capture. I was so surprised at quite how noisy this snuffling is.

    Curious about your LED torch. Have you a post about it and how you use it?

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  8. Midmarsh John22 June 2011 at 12:44

    I hope so Keith. It pays not to be too tidy if you want a wildlife friendly garden - well that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

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  9. Midmarsh John22 June 2011 at 12:45

    Hello Twosie. It sounds hopeful for a future generation of spikys here.

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  10. Midmarsh John22 June 2011 at 12:49

    Thank you Shirl. They are usually very timid here but they have other things on their minds at the moment ;)
    The torch is just a normal hand held thing but has about 30 LEDs instead of the usual bulb. I'll put a photo of it with the videos on Friday.

    The videos are quite dark but I think they will process OK to bring out any action.

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Thank you for visiting. Hope you enjoyed the pictures. Any comment, or correction to any information or identification I get wrong, is most welcome. John

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