It's all gone a bit quiet again. There were longer visits between Thursday and Saturday and some of the food got eaten. But last night no food went. Another short visit. Last night...in at 3.12 am. Out at 3.30am. That was nearly six hours later than last time. It may be that she's finding food elsewhere. They can travel quite long distances at night, so she could have gone down next door's drive and across the road to other gardens. She always turns left when she goes out of our garden. The Chinese workmen who are billeted next door, don't do any gardening, just cut the grass occasionally. Both their side garage and shed doors are always left open as there's only junk in there, left by the previous owners. Maybe she has a second home in there. I'm not really bothered. I'll keep putting the food out and make sure access to both hedgehog houses is kept clear of fallen leaves. She may not hibernate in our garden. There's likely to be other hedgehogs about, if not this year, in the spring.
What a surprising turn of events. I would have thought the hedgehogs would have stayed there forever. The billeting seems perfect.
I've always suspected there might be two hedgehogs, but the closest I've seen the recorded times on the two cameras which are at opposite ends of the garden, is three minutes. I was of the opinion that sometimes the hedgehog doesn't activate the cameras, their thick layer of bristles and fur not transmitting enough heat. Although the mouse with hardly any fur does. But the camera next to the hole in the fence, picks up a lot of "ins" followed by an "out." So if I assume it collects up all movements, the record last night between 9.00pm and 6.00 am. was.. In at half-nine out in in out out in out in out at 6.30 am So at least two hedgehogs.
I've not noticed this before, as I was concentrating more on finding similar captures at the same time on both cameras. But there's a pattern emerging, the activity last night was the same as that of the night before, except for the times. It was the same the previous night! In 9.15pm Out 10.30pm In 11.00pm Out 12.33pm In 12.56am In 2.33am Out 3.49am Out 4.11am In 6.12am Out 6.38am. It would appear that the two are keeping their distance, maybe deciding that building up fat reserves for hibernation is better than squabbling over territory. There's an in and out fairly early in the morning two or three hours after the last "out" on all three nights, which brings up the possibility of maybe a third?
You make this very interesting. Not squabbling and building up fat reserves for the winter is their way of hedging their bets, I suppose.
We're nearly half-way through November and there's still a bit of activity over several hours but fewer "comings and goings." "> This can't last for much longer as it's getting colder.
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.
Riley—Interesting, this posting. This fall and winter battery weakness is one of the reasons that I finally stopped using my old trail cam…that and the moisture that seemed to keep getting into the cam. Never mind, I am tremendously enjoying your frames on here. Keep up the good work. BTW— did I see retinal reflections in that square opening behind the hedgehog that is walking to the left?
No it's a piece of Stirlingboard covered with black tape to stop it getting wet, that supports the piece of pipe that is the entrance. It's reflecting the light from a security PIR.
