Hedgehog Survival February 21, 2012

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Hedgehog found during the day

We recently found a hedgehog on our smallholding.  This is unusual because it was found during the day, and in February.  In the Autumn we discovered a dead hedgehog  -that we had also seen during the day in our woods- which we now  know was probably underweight.  We therefore resolved to actively do something to help this little one.

If you have found a hedgehog here is a website with links to organisations who will care for a hedgehog who needs help. 

Weight of a hedgehog is crucial to its survival and your intervention

The minimum weight for a hedgehog through the winter is 450gms (1lb) and any hedgehog below this weight is likely to have problems. If you find a hedgehog that you are concerned about this will indicate to you whether it may need some assistance.  Although 450gms is the minimum weight, many hedgehog carers prefer to get their autumn juveniles up to 600gms (1lb 6oz) or more to give them an extra edge. Autumn juveniles are youngsters found alone under this critical weight after the end of September, and will need extra help even if it is just additional feeding in the garden.

call the British Hedgehog Preservation Society for further advice on 01584 890 801

Initial caring advice for a vulnerable hedgehog

If the hoglet is very young (under 160gms/6 oz) it should be given extra warmth with a hot water bottle wrapped in towelling or a blanket, or a heated pad. It should be placed in a box with plenty of clean, fresh straw, crumpled newspapers or old towelling for bedding. Out buildings are fine if heated but don’t put hedgehogs on a metal grid or wire floor or straight onto concrete – they have sensitive feet and cold will permeate through.

Why is ‘my’ hedgehog ‘sunbathing’ or staggering?

Sick, injured and orphaned hedgehogs are very susceptible to hypothermia. When they become cold they are lethargic and go off their food. This makes them even colder! The staggering (or wobbling and rocking) is a sign of hypothermia, and they may look like they are sunbathing as they spread themselves out in the sun in an attempt to get some heat into their bodies.

When they are spotted in this state they need help quickly. They should be taken indoors on a box with a well-wrapped hot water bottle placed underneath them. The bottle must not be allowed to go cold or it will undo the good it has done. Once you have the hedgehog settled and warming up, call the British Hedgehog Preservation Society on 01584 890 801 for further advice.

Food for hedgehogs

Wild food 

In the wild, damp grassland is the hedgehog’s favourite hunting ground. Hedgehogs will eat the following:

• Beetles
• Caterpillars
• Earthworms
• Birds Eggs
• Small Mammals
• Slugs
• Snails
• Millipedes
• Earwigs
• Bees
• Birds

Human feeding of hedgehogs

If feeding wild hedgehogs in your garden then a shallow (non-tipping) dish of chicken-based cat/dog food, along with a shallow dish of water, put out each night will help them enormously.

A good hedgehog diet would include tinned pet food, chopped peanuts (not whole ones) or crunchy peanut butter, raw or cooked meat leftovers, muesli and a small amount of vegetables.

Hedgehogs should not be fed on bread and cows milk if they are captive and cannot find other foods; this gives them diarrhoea .

Other food includes:

• based pet food (not in gravy)
• cooked chicken (excluding bones)
• minced beef or lamb
• a little bran or unsweetened moistened muesli cereal
• banana
• raisins
• unsweetened crushed digestive biscuits
• dry cat or hedgehog biscuits

Fresh water should ALWAYS be available. Cows milk SHOULD NOT be given.

Hedgehogs are full of fleas and other parasites 

This is the first thought of many people, and may put them off helping a sickly hedgehog.  If it is necessary to remove fleas from a hedgehog, then a commercially prepared mite powder suitable for caged birds or chickens can be dusted amongst the spines (taking care to avoid the eyes of the animal) as an adequate treatment, but do not use on very young hedgehogs.

Blood-sucking ticks are often found on hedgehogs and after taking their fill of blood, will drop off the host in order to complete their life cycle. Removal of these ticks is a difficult task but can be accomplished by dousing the ticks in olive/almond/cooking oil. Removing these ticks with forceps is to be avoided as the inexperienced may leave the mouthparts and head in the skin that may turn septic.

Will my dog/cat get fleas from the hedgehog?

Hedgehog fleas are host specific, which means they will not usually live on any animal other than a hedgehog. Not all hedgehogs have fleas.

Hibernation

Hedgehogs avoid the coldest times of winter by hibernating, usually between November and early April, depending on the weather. If it is warm enough and there is enough food, hedgehogs do not hibernate at all.

click here for a link to a hibernation leaflet.  Or if you want information about a specific time of year or month then here is a good link to the hedgehog year.

If you would like to read more of my articles under the heading of nature click here.

Information sites used in the construction of this post:

• http://www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk/FAQS/general.htm
• http://www.wildlife-web.org.uk/hedgehog/facts/feeding.html
• http://www.wildlifetrust.org.uk/facts/hedge.htm

It’s the little things that matter! December 28, 2011

Importance of short tailed or field voles to conserving predators and raptors

In the winter when the rough grass has stopped growing and weeds have died down in our wood, the runs or motorways of the short tailed or field vole become more prominent.  This little creature plays a very big part in the ecosystem that exists within our smallholding, because it is the main source of food for the Kestrels and Tawny Owls found at Fife Smallholder.  Both these birds have nationally been in decline, and their presence here is a good example of the part that smallholdings can play in conserving wildlife in the countryside.

What does a short tailed or field vole look like?

Image via Wikipedia

Description

Body length 10 – 12 cm. Grey-brown above, cream-grey below. The tail is less than 40% of body length, the tail is also much shorter than that of a bank vole. Ears are almost completely covered by fur, whereas those of bank vole are more prominent. The eyes are relatively smaller than those of a bank vole.

 Reproduction

Between March and December, the short-tailed field vole may have as many as four to five litters containing 4-6 young. The young females are ready to mate  at 6 weeks.

Where do short tailed field voles live?

They are found generally in moist grassy habitats, such as woodland, marsh, or river banks.  Here we find them in the rough grass in our wood and wild areas.

Although they dig burrows, they usually build nests above ground and build intricate runways through grasses.  Sometimes, voles will use the burrows of moles to get around.  Many vole families will share the runway systems.

Image via Wikipedia

Voles feed on a variety of herbaceous plants and grasses. Voles feed on above and below ground plant parts such as foliage, seeds, stems, roots and bulbs. As food becomes scarce in autumn and early winter, voles may seek the tasty cambium of small tree roots, crowns and trunks.

Short tailed field voles can damage trees

 Trees chewed by short tailed field voles are stunted, spindly and have very little foliage. Leaves can even show signs of reddening and other water-stress symptoms.  Damaged trees can look like they have been whittled near the trunk. The chew marks made by a vole can be recognized by: the pattern, location, and the size of the bite marks. Voles feed close to the ground, if not below ground.

For trees, there are protective barriers available. These tree guards can be purchased or homemade. Guards are often made out of plastic.  Make sure that the height of the guard is at least 12 inches and also plant the base of the guard deep enough that voles cannot burrow beneath them, 6-10 inches is enough. Check these guards regularly because you may have just made a cosy vole home!

Who eats field voles?

Kestrels and Tawny Owls eat the voles that are found in our wood and rough grassland on the smallholding.  As an important food source for owls and some other predators, their population peaks and troughs in a four-year cycle.  As they travel, field voles leave a trail of scent to warn off other voles. Hunting birds of prey, such as kestrels (identified by its characteristic hovering and perch hunting techniques) look out for the UV light that radiates from the trails.

Relationship between voles and Tawny Owls

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Tawny Owls prey primarily on Short Tail Voles, Field Mice and Shrews. They will hunt at day and at night but usually at first and last light. They will hunt in and around wooded areas and in fields.Tawny Owl numbers have dropped dramatically over the last 80 or so years. As the Tawny Owl (like most birds of Prey) are very high up on the food chain,  any human changes that destruct and fragment the habitats and environments of animals at the bottom, invariably affects things at the top.

Reasons for the decline of the tawny owl

•  Hedgerow destruction and replacement with maintenance free fencing. Great for Modern Farming but bad for mice and voles
•  Increase in stocking density of Sheep and greater silage production. Lots of food for Cows and Sheep but means that the grass is too short for voles to run around in.

Relationship between field voles and Kestrels

Kestrel populations have declined over the last 25 years, but has remained stable over the last few years.  Population fluctuations generally tend to parallel that of its main prey species (the short-tailed vole) which has been affected by farming intensification and the lost of rough grassland.  The Kestrel has also suffered from increased competition from other raptors that have recovered from the low population levels in the second half of the 20th century.

The short tailed field vole is the preferred diet of Kestrels and breeding performance is closely tied in to the three-year cycles of this small mammal. In peak vole years Kestrel territory occupation is high, clutch sizes large and brood survival high. When the vole numbers bottom out after the peak the Kestrel occupation and productivity also falls.

The effect of snow on voles and predators

Snow can be good for voles as it protects their runs from the Owls and Kestrels, and voles can benefit from a fall of snow because it provides an insulating blanket over their territory.  Voles can eat roots below ground, and can therefore continue to find food.

Predators such as Tawny Owls and Kestrels find it much harder to catch voles after a snow fall and this weather can put great stress on these birds.

Honey bees September 29, 2011

What is causing colony collapse disorder?

Check out this link to some useful information

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/09/25/why-are-the-bees-disappearing.aspx

fife smallholder bee hive

www.fifesmallholder.co.uk

Scottish Wild Mushroom Code September 26, 2011

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Scottish Wild Mushroom Code – Wild mushroom, what and how to collect?

It’s a very good year for fungi, and we have quite a range of mushrooms in our wood that I like to look at but am too cautious to try to eat.  But for those of you who are more adventurous than I am here is some useful information:

What to collect

• Wildlife, especially insects, need mushrooms too, so only pick what you will use.
• Some mushrooms are poisonous and others rare and should not be collected – only collect what you know and take a field guide with you to identify mushrooms where you find them.
• Some species are vulnerable, so please consider whether there is an alternative species that is more common that might suit your purpose.

How to collect

• Allow mushrooms to release spores, do not pick mushrooms until the cap has opened out and leave those that are past their best.
• The main part of the mushroom is below the surface; take care not to damage or trample it and not to disturb its surroundings.
• Scatter trimmings discreetly in the same area as the mushroom came from.

Check out these links if you want to know more

• SNH pdf Scottish Wild Mushroom Code
• Picking wild berries and mushrooms – Scottish Outdoor Access Code
• http://www.outdooraccess-scotland.com/out-and…/berries-and-mushrooms/
• http://www.forestharvest.org.uk/guidelines/Mushcode.htm
•  www.fifesmallholder.co.uk

Fungi August 23, 2011

A smallholder always loves free food.  However, someone is enjoying eating the fungi in our wood and it’s not me. Perhaps it’s the hedgehog I’ve met the last couple of days walking the dogs………

nibbled mushroom

www.fifesmallholder.co.uk

Wildflowers August 21, 2011

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Check out this link http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/aug/17/kew-native-seed-hub. Hope for our bees, moths, and butterflies. When I look round our smallholding I am heartened that all is not lost. We have a range of wild flowers, harebells, oxeye daisies, fox gloves, rosebay willow herbs.

www.fifesmallholder.co.uk

Hedgehogs August 13, 2011

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I’ve seen a lot of hedgehogs over the last couple of days and I’m not sure why. Perhaps they are young looking for new territories. At least one of them must be living in my 5 star Hedgehog Hilton that we built a few years ago.

www.fifesmallholder.co.uk

Butterflies August 7, 2011

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I rescued a tortoiseshell butterfly today -there are so few of them this year I guess they need all the help they can get. Perhaps I should make a nectar feeder?

www.fifesmallholder.co.uk