The Night Visitor

[Sean Regan]

There's problems with the cameras now due to the weather. Although I made protectors to shield them from the rain, they are getting misted up during some periods of the night.
There was only one activation of the camera by the doorway.

This was at a quarter to one this morning and showed nothing.

The first photo on the other camera, was this, at 11.03 pm.

Other sightings just as blurred continued until half past midnight. Then nothing until gone 3.00am when there were a succession of clear photos, possible activated by Marcel the mouse, but I couldn't see him.
Much of the food went from the feeder on the patio and all from the bowl in the little entranceway to the house next to the back fence.
The evidence would suggest, either one or more of the houses are occupied, or the camera by the hole in the fence isn't picking everything up, which I think is more likely. Although both cameras have a feed from an adapter, this one indicates that the batteries are running down. These cameras don't work well if the voltage is slightly down. I'll get it some new batteries today as I have to do some shopping anyway.

Either way, no hibernation as yet, but it is getting colder so it shouldn't be long now.

 

[Sean Regan]

Cameras working well with new batteries.
Still no nearer working out how many hedgehogs and where they are going.

Last night.

In 20.40
Out 21.27
In 21.42
Out 22.03
In 23.25
In 1.30
Out 2.17.

The activity on the patio was between 21.53 and 2.46.
So if the cameras picked up all movements, there was still one hedgehog in the garden all night.

Here's a couple of "In" photos. But is it the same one?

 

[Sheal]

It looks like the same one Sean. Perhaps you could sprinkle some sand on the patio and the routes from the entrance. You'll be able to tell how many there are by the footprints they leave and then smooth it out for the next visit.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

Karl von Frisch used to paint coloured stripes on the thorax ad abdomen of honey bees to give them numbers, he got so good at reading them he could say "There's 1673" as it flew past. It would beat staying up all night smoothing sand.

 

[Sean Regan]

I don't mind feeding them and changing the camera cards, but unless I get video evidence, then I'm happy to be in the dark about it. When we knew there were two, it was only because "Stripe" had a white mark on his prickles that we could tell them apart.

 

[Sean Regan]

The mystery deepens.

Last night's activity.

In at 20.23pm

In at 21.09pm

In at 12.19am

Out at 21.20 pm

In at 4.02am

Sorry! False alarm!

That was the only activity at the bottom of the garden.


On the patio, the feeder was visited several times between 12.42am and 2.36am

Both food dishes were emptied, the one in the feeder on the patio has twice the capacity as the one at the bottom of the garden.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

Have you considered electronic tagging to determine where they are managing to get out, or possibly where they hide inside during the day ?
II guess it doesn't really matter as long as they are happy, but you might have to widen that door if they go on eating like that.

 

[Sean Regan]

Have you considered electronic tagging to determine where they are managing to get out, or possibly where they hide inside during the day ?
II guess it doesn't really matter as long as they are happy, but you might have to widen that door if they go on eating like that.

This is about as fat as they get before hibernation.

A lot of it is prickles, that they can compact to squeeze through small gaps.
These are stills from the same video. The piece of pipe I use as an entrance to the feeder is only 4" in diameter and as you can see it can easily get through.

 

[Sean Regan]

No hedgehog photos last night, so they may have started their hibernation. I've been leaving some peanuts out with their hedgehog pellets and they all get eaten.
I noticed this morning that the peanuts had gone but the pellets were still there. So I think the squirrels may have taken the nuts. In fact in the patio feeder a lot of the pellets look as if they've chucked them out to get at the peanuts. They could be coming at first light after the cameras turn off. So I've put more pellets out, but no nuts and set the camera to stop activating at 9.00 am so it will pick them up if they enter the feeder looking for nuts.

We could have this situation when they don't find any.

I don't put peanuts in their feeder until much later in the day.

 

[Sean Regan]

As I suspected, there were no visits by hedgehogs last night. I'll still leave food out for a few days, but I doubt if we'll see any until April.