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A South East garden |
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chubsta
Senior Member Joined: 26 Apr 2013 Location: Folkestone,Kent Status: Offline Points: 430 |
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We do lose a fair few to the roads unfortunately, last year was horrendous - due to road works the main road to Dover was shut overnight for about 3 months, traffic figures were approx 3-400 lorries per hour passing through the village in each direction each night at the time of year the hedgehogs were moving around the most. I lost at least 7 of my 'regulars' in this period which was heartbreaking, I only live about 50 yards from the road.
The one saving grace we have is that people in my little 'block' seem very hedgehog aware and there are plenty of suitable places for them to nest and breed so I guess as long as that is the case the numbers will maintain a viable level, all signs are that hibernation survival rates are quite good this year although I am still waiting on a number of known hogs to turn up. Providing plenty of food all-year round will hopefully mean they don't feel the need to roam so much, the village is pretty quiet so traffic apart from the main road is very minimal, one advantage of living in a village full of old people! I remember going to my pond a couple of years back and wondering what the black sludge was around it, it took me a little while to realise that it was the remains of thousands of tadpoles that had been washed out. Fortunately the pond edge is not level so I have deliberately planted dense vegetation in the pond at its lowest level so the water can easily drain out but it acts like a sieve for the tadpoles.
Edited by chubsta - 02 Apr 2018 at 4:08pm |
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chubsta
Senior Member Joined: 26 Apr 2013 Location: Folkestone,Kent Status: Offline Points: 430 |
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The sun has finally come out so I was able to see into the pond a little better and I have got a lot more spawn than I originally thought, it had just dropped into a slightly deeper area out of sight. To give it a better chance I have managed to move most of it to a shallow end that didn't have much spawn and where the water should be warmer - most looked good and the tadpoles are developing ok, I would say about 5% is white and not viable but it looks like we may be ok again this year.
Still have a number of 'regular' hogs each night, with others passing through for a quick feed before moving on - unfortunately the main Dover route is closed again at night for the next 3 weeks so I am sure that will take its toll on the poor things. As I never get bored of showing my hogs off... |
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chubsta
Senior Member Joined: 26 Apr 2013 Location: Folkestone,Kent Status: Offline Points: 430 |
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Found this chap on the path this evening when I went to put some extra food out for the hogs, I thought the left eye was an artefact caused by the flash but when I go a torch to have a better look at him I can see he has a cloudy eye. Apart from that he looks in good condition and was very active so hopefully it won't hold him back.
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GemmaJF
Admin Group Joined: 25 Jan 2003 Location: Essex Status: Offline Points: 4359 |
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Seen a few one eyed frogs and even snakes. They generally seem to cope, they tend to become easily recognisable favourites, so I've ended up with several records of one eyed individuals that survived over many seasons.
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chubsta
Senior Member Joined: 26 Apr 2013 Location: Folkestone,Kent Status: Offline Points: 430 |
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Pretty much all the spawn has now hatched, Ive always wondered why so much froth is produced, I can't imagine it is due to the physical movement of the tadpoles as they don't seem to do much, do they exude anything that would cause this?
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Suzy
Senior Member Joined: 06 Apr 2005 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 1447 |
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Just heard the sound of a builder's bucket being shoved around outside and put the outside light on (20 yds from house) and there was a hedgehog eating the peanuts! As some on here know I fed badgers in the garden, but they stopped coming a few years ago. In the snow I thought I saw badger prints (hard to ID as snowed over) so started to put nuts out. The nuts went, or partly went, about every other night but now going every night. I put something over them to deter rats and early birds but know that badgers and hedgehogs can shove things away. I did wonder if it was a hedgehog as not all the nuts are taken each night and there is some evidence of the papery casing of peanuts left behind. Badgers hoover everything up! I am pleased to see a hog and hope there are a few about.
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Suz
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chubsta
Senior Member Joined: 26 Apr 2013 Location: Folkestone,Kent Status: Offline Points: 430 |
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Great news, we can always do with more hogs! Hopefully it is a sign of resurgence in your area, it seems like urban gardens are going to be essential to their survival. The hog(s) at our second house which is pretty much in the middle of a town although quite close to overgrown Army firing ranges, have now turned up so we are being eaten out of house and home. Still waiting on slow-worms but I guess they were very rare in my garden so may not see them, the pond though is heaving with tadpoles so things are looking good.
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chubsta
Senior Member Joined: 26 Apr 2013 Location: Folkestone,Kent Status: Offline Points: 430 |
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Had a quick look in the pond this evening, just in time to see a couple of newts swimming about, very nice to see them.
Do newts lay their eggs at the same time as the frogs spawn or are they later?
Edited by chubsta - 14 Apr 2018 at 8:15pm |
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chubsta
Senior Member Joined: 26 Apr 2013 Location: Folkestone,Kent Status: Offline Points: 430 |
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About 25degrees this afternoon, blazing sunshine and the pond just heaving with life!
And plenty of hog action last night, although the females are in short supply so the boys just end up fighting over the same one each night... Edited by chubsta - 19 Apr 2018 at 4:13pm |
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Suzy
Senior Member Joined: 06 Apr 2005 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 1447 |
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Love the videos. A good number of taddies there. My small pond is completely covered in duckweed and so I can't see any taddies. I cleared an area about the size of a tea tray this afternoon by pushing it back, so that I could see clear water. I watched for a while but only saw a newt, not to say they're not there of course. I still have hundreds of taddies in containers fattening up.
You've got an amazing number of hedgehogs there. I've got a hedgehog or several coming for peanuts each night. What happens is hedgehog first and then later a badger or badgers
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Suz
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