I made a new feeder for the patio with the addition of some key terrain type pipe, donated by a local plumber's merchants yesterday, "as it was for hedgehogs." I wasn't going to spend a fortune on it as I doubt if it will be in use for more than a month before hibernation. I found a storage box in Asda this morning whilst doing the week's shopping, it was only £4. These are a pain to cut, which was necessary to insert the end of the plastic pipe, they will split very easily, so I used a fret saw. I used thick black masking tape, to protect the edges of the hole. Anyway job done. Took about half an hour including tidying the garage after. The end of the pipe is stepped, so there's an inch or so removed from the base of the pipe, so it sits on the bottom rim of the feeder without moving. The bricks also steady it and the slates on the top will stop cats or foxes trying to get into it. I think Hettie is back in the house at the bottom of the garden. This was the first photo the camera took last night. She's coming down the tunnel from the house entrance. If she'd come through the doorway in the fence, there would be an earlier one. This was taken at 9.00pm. She wouldn't have been "up" before then.
After two tours of inspection the new feeder was found to be acceptable. The bowl was empty when I checked this morning. Hettie was busy around the other house, the food was all cleared and "I think she must have drunk a gallon of water," the number of times she visited the water bowl in the space of a few hours.
The feeding station looks great and it's terrible trying to cut the entrance out of it, as you said. We had to replace ours after 3 years, the opening became brittle and it cracked.
I wasn't happy with the new feeder, I didn't think it would last long with the pipe stuck through the flimsy wall of the cheap plastic box. So I made an "upgrade." I hade a bit of Stirling board, so I got to work on it with my jigsaw." I made pieces for each side of the wall of the box. This stuff is very cheaply made from bits of wood glued and compressed. It doesn't like water. So I covered it with strong plastic tape. With a couple of small brackets bolted to the tube and screwed to the Stirlingboard, it's really secure. No need for the bricks to stop it being moved. Just the tile and brick on top to stop cats or the fox trying to move it. I had to go to the village hardware/DIY shop for the brackets. Presently, it's the only place for bits and pieces. With Wilko going, the nearest place would be Homebase in Altrincham or B&Q at the Trafford Centre, quite a journey, if you need something when you're in the middle of a job. Problem is, this little store can be expensive for stuff like screws and bolts as they charge for each individual item. Wilko sold screws by the bag. Fill one with an assortment for about three quid. This shop has been in the village for fifty years, so must have made the owners a fortune, as it's always busy as are all the other shops, if something closes down which is rare, it's soon replaced with something else. But they've got competition coming. On the other side of the road there's a parade of post-war built shops with flats over them. The end one was a double-fronted bookie's. It was formally a bank. But it closed down a few months ago and a new DIY/Hardware store is opening soon.
That looks nice! I hope this goes through, I saw it and thought of you, Riley. This one seems to know what a camera is! His name is Chunk, and he eats right in front of the camera.
I really liked that groundhog vid, Willow. I had no idea that there were such good pics. I watched one getting a bath. Just unimaginable. I guess that he would not fit in a hedgehog accommodation. I can’t wait to see what your hedgehogs are going to do next, Riley.
I think they may be a little better because they're day. Any night videos I've seen look just like Riley's. This guy embraced the groundhog(s). I don't know if you clicked on other Chunk videos, but he made Chunk Land complete with a little picnic table and sign. Kind of like the squirrel obstacle course guy. I posted that one as well.
It took Hettie a few days to trust the new feeder. This is the first time the camera has actually picked her up going in. She's managed to avoid it up until now, although the food had been disappearing. The pipe is exactly the right size.
Checking the camera cards this morning I noticed the times of the recordings. On one occasion, there was a difference of just one minute between hedgehog videos on both. This would mean that. 1, Hettie had achieved a world record for the 80ft hedgehog sprint! Well.. in hedgehog terms, the equivalent of the 400mtrs! Or. 2, We have two hedgehogs! Sadly it was, 3. When I took both cameras into the shed and checked the clocks, as I suspected, one I'd set 4 minutes faster than the other. Therefore a difference of 5 minutes between the two sightings. So I synchronised them. In actual fact, there's just Hettie and she'd taken her usual brisk walk between the two feeders
