Hedgehog vs Fox; general wildlife question

Baldwelshman

Well-Known Member
hi there
this is a follow-on discussion to a picture posted by JAYB in the photos section; 'last nights dinner guests'

Until this summer my neighbours and I had a very healthy hedgehog population living between our gardens and adjoining grounds. As you'd expect for a town centre location were not unaccustomed to seeing the odd flat-hog sleeping on one of the busy local roads, but generally this hasn’t affected our population.......early summer fox cubs have started appearing in the neighbouring school grounds, I've never seen the adult foxes, suffice to say they are still there making their nocturnal screams......and the hedgehogs are all gone....

...so my question; has anyone ever seen a fox taking a hedgehog ??

Baldwelshman
 
I have not seen it happening but I once found a hedgehog which had been scooped out of its spines. Nothing bar the spines left and after wondering about it for a good while I came to the conclusion that it was likely a fox.

That said hedgehogs as aforementioned do hibernate so there is a fair chance that's where they has all gone for the time being.
 
unfortunately they disappeared well before summer turned to autunm and the weather turned chilly, not that its that cold down here this year - just wet and wild.....
 
Badgers will turn them inside out, As the badger population increased hereabouts the hedgehogs have all but disappeared. I would suspect a fox would be inclined to pass a hedghog by.
 
Badgers will eat hedgehogs. Hedgehogs will take ground beating birds.

I think ink I am right in saying it is still legal to shoot hedgehogs, but illegal to trap them.
 
Yes jubnut you are quite right.
I have found hedgehogs on fox earths containing cubs so I would say it is possible that they may dine on them occasionally but they may well just be a play thing for the cubs.
 
I had a terrier who was adept at killing them even chewing through the wire of his kennel to kill them .we have a hedgehog get into the dog runs in the middle of the night for food but my gun dogs just bark at them .i like them about but not at 3 in the morning !:doh:
 
I had a terrier the same Norma , a russell from the Middleton hunt.
Could never weigh up his motive other than a blood lust looking at the state of him afterwards as he used to bite them straight threw the back :doh:
 
I was told that foxes will carry them to water and drown them to get them to unravel. I've always believed this having seen remains of several near to the Welsh Dee years ago.
 
Badgers are a real threat to hedgehogs. They both have worms as their main diet. Badgers out compete the hedgehogs for the worms and they also eat the hedgehogs themselves.
As badgers are a protected species their number can only increase to the detriment of hedgehogs. Something Bryan May cheerfully ignores.
 
I have seen a fox trying to kill and eat a hedgehog when out lamping, shot the fox before he killed it.
As many have said the badger are the real hedgehog killers and anything else that they come across, they are really partial to wasps nests to, anything that can coupe with them, then a hedgehog going to be easy....!
 
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