Look What I Found in my Garden

[Python]

Doing some gardening tonight and I found this cheeky chappie - a young Hedgehog:D

They're great for eating slugs and other garden pests so I hope he decides to stay in our garden.

We gave him some catfood and some goats milk (kitten milk) so hope he'll keep coming back or take up permanent residence.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y223/fionakidd/PICT0094-1.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y223/fionakidd/PICT0097.jpg

[Trekhawk]

Aahh that is so cute!!! I hope he/she hangs around to be your garden helper.:)

[nancielle]

He looks like he's really getting into his feast!

[abvnx]

aww, cute!:) thanks for posting it.

[mimitabby]

wow! I need one. We have slugs!

uh, Python, do people convince them to stay around or are they typically too independent?

[KnottedYet]

What a cutie!

[Trek420]

Awwww, s/he's so cute! And the photo, that's amazing. Macro lens? How'd you get so close?

[Lifesgreat]

Cuuuute! :)

[Python]

Mimitabby. If you feed them every evening they usually stay. We had a family of hedgehogs at our last house. They often used to come right up to the back door - Mum, Dad hedgehog and a couple of little ones. They can get quite tame. Now I know I've got hedgehogs I'll have to be very careful if I'm using the strimmer. I would be devastated if I caused injury or death to these lovely creatures.

Trek420. I got down flat on my belly with the zoom lens on full to take that pic. Hedgehog disappeared shortly after that but I bet he's back in almost the same place now. I shall avoid that part of the garden when I'm working in it so he has a bit of undergrowth to curl up in.

[mimitabby]

awesome!!!

i never knew! (and once upon a time, my Italian relatives were so hungry they used to EAT them!)

[Wahine]

He/she is sooooooooo cute I just wanna squeeze him.

Ummmmm. On the other hand, maybe not a good idea. He looks kinda prickly.

I love hedgehogs.

[smilingcat]

cute cute cute... Do you have someting like NWF backyard habitat certification (can't remember the exact name)? It's just a feather in your cap so to speak.

I desperately need one to deal with all the snails in my yard.

Thai chilli pepper plant --- gone, nada, see ya.
globe basil --- lasted a day then it was nubs, two days later no sign...
french string beans -- snails said thank you very much.
armanian cucumber --- what was that but still TASTY! they said.

Things that survivied, egg plant cause it was able to grow faster than snails could eat. Same with squash and zucchini.

Tomato plants -- we no like.

And I refuse to use any chemicals on my garden. Kitchen refuse gets composted, and we use carnivorous snails to deal with the regular snails, ladybugs for aphid control.

Smilingcat

[rocknrollgirl]

Now I want want too....hmm...I wonder what my kitty would think...

[Duck on Wheels]

We used to have hedgehogs, until some badgers settled in the neighbors' unkempt mass of raspberries. Now I think the badgers are gone too. Haven't seen them in ages. I wish the hedgehogs would come back, but have little hope.

[snapdragen]

I desperately need one to deal with all the snails in my yard.



Not as cute as a hedgehog, but I used to use a copper barrier (http://http://www.groworganic.com/item_PBR650_SnailBarr_Copper_Barrier_3_x_20_.html)to protect my plants from snails.

I put little rings of the copper strip around the base of each pepper plant, and made sure none of the leaves touched the ground. Snails and slugs hate copper.

[Aggie_Ama]

Now I know I've got hedgehogs I'll have to be very careful if I'm using the strimmer. I would be devastated if I caused injury or death to these lovely creatures.



WEe have quite a bit of toads that we enjoy because they keep the bugs under control. My neighbors keep trying to run off the free insect control! DH was devasted last night to have backed over one of our little visitors; he was so distraught as he watched it die. :(He also gets very alarmed that his workers kill snakes and bunnies at work.

[Python]

We get quite a lot of frogs and toads in our garden too. Our cat brought in a frog the other night. I thought it was dead as it was just lying on the floor with it's little hands over it's eyes. I picked it up and it jumped out of my hands. It landed on the floor and promptly covered it's eyes again! I managed to catch it again and put it outside in the garden. It covered it's eyes again. Poor thing must have thought it's end had come. It realised nothing was harming it and hopped off. Probably came from next door neighbour's pond. The same night a saw a large toad. I caught him and put him in a safer location in the garden. I like these animals because they do so much good in the garden. We also get Slow Worms. They're good at eating slugs and garden pests too.

[IFjane]

:(He also gets very alarmed that his workers kill snakes and bunnies at work.

I don't understand why people do this - and don't think a thing of it, especially snakes. There is a story on CNN.com about a 5 yo child who was killed by a stray bullet, fired by a policeman who was shooting a snake out of a tree! It's a tragedy that the child was killed - but why was he trying to shoot the snake out of the tree in the first place??? Seems simple to me - leave the snake alone and NO ONE GETS HURT.

[7rider]

Cute little Hedgie.
I love the critters that eat the pests.
We've got snakes, toads, and frogs around here, too.

But not all the critters eat the pests. Some of the critters ARE the pests!
Now..if I could just train deer to eat ONLY the weeds, I'd be very happy.
;)

[Aggie_Ama]

IF Jane- I believe it may be a cultural thing on the snakes. They are not scared of them (which is the reason most people kill them), they just hate them. I am not a fan of snakes, but I let them go about their business. If it were poisonous and trying to harm me, maybe I would do something but most likely I would call some kind of wildlife control.

The bunnies they view as a pest at the nursery but DH prefers to catch and release them; not kill the little guys.

[7rider]

The bunnies they view as a pest at the nursery ...... not kill the little guys.

La, la, la, la, la!!!
I'm not listening!!!!!
Bunnies are for luvin' not harming!

[Duck on Wheels]

We had out-of-season permits for deer and multiple other "pests" back on the farm. Had a gun too. But my Dad could never bring himself to shoot anything. Not even the possums, which were an invasive imported species in California. Nor the turkeys which were not only invasive and non-native, but also edible. He maybe killed a gopher or two, and some flies and mosquitoes, but otherwise he only used catch-and-release traps. Catch'em. Drive off into the woods. Let'em go. Once we think the "pest" may have been a mountain lion. Whatever it was left claw marks at shoulder height on one of the redwood trees. It also took the bait out of the back of a possum-sized trap, pulled the chicken thigh out and left the trap snapped but empty. And it growled rather loudly around the house for a couple of nights, the first of which my ds and the neighbors' son were out in the yard in a tent :eek: But still, we never shot anything. We were invading their territory, not they ours.

[chickwhorips]

So what do you use to keep moose away from a garden? Haven't started a garden, but the little trees are more like a stick with one leaf. :eek:

[Python]

IF Jane- I believe it may be a cultural thing on the snakes. They are not scared of them (which is the reason most people kill them), they just hate them. I am not a fan of snakes, but I let them go about their business. If it were poisonous and trying to harm me, maybe I would do something but most likely I would call some kind of wildlife control.

The bunnies they view as a pest at the nursery but DH prefers to catch and release them; not kill the little guys.

The poor snake is the most maligned creature on this planet - yet they are the most gentle and shy. Most snakes would much rather slither away than even defend themselves. We don't get rattlesnakes over here, but even rattlers will rattle their tails. I've been in the same room as a captive Diamondback Rattler and his rattle was so loud, he left you in no doubt to what he was. They rattle their tails to tell you to go away. They, like the vast majority of snakes will not attack you. The exception being the Black and Green Mambas. They are very territorial and have been known to give chase. Even Cobras will warn you off by rearing up and displaying their hoods (been close to a couple of Cobras - in the same room as them although they were in their vivs). You back away from them and they'll quickly put the hood down and look for an escape route.

People are indoctrinated from an early age that snakes are bad, and that is kept alive by the Christian Old Testament Adam and Eve.

I can tell you something, if any of my pet snakes turned round and told me to eat this delicious, red apple I think I'd be hot-footing it to the nearest pyschiatrist!


Oh, sorry Jake. It was a green apple...:o

PS. Haven't seen the hedgehog tonight:(

[Duck on Wheels]

So what do you use to keep moose away from a garden? Haven't started a garden, but the little trees are more like a stick with one leaf. :eek:

My guess is the same as we finally did to keep the deer out -- 7ft high, very sturdy fences.

[Python]

Venison and redcurrant sauce...MMMMMM:)

[Tuckervill]

We went camping in the Ouachita National Forest last night. Me and the boy, and we rode this morning around some fire roads.

We had a bear visit our campsite while we slept, I think--I didn't see it, but I smelled it and heard it get in the trash cans about 50 yards away. I've never smelled a bear before, but it was close and there for a long time. While I was half asleep, it didn't occur to me that it might be a bear--but when I awoke, I remembered the smell! YIKES!

It's kind of a musty, musky, skunky odor, moist smelling. Not a skunk--I know those. It was so strong it must have been right outside the tent. Anyone know what a black bear smells like?

Karen

[uforgot]

Anyone know what a black bear smells like?

Karen

I think if I was ever close enough to sniff a Black Bear, the overwhelming aroma in the air would definitely NOT be from the bear.

[lph]

aaaw, hedgehogs are so cute!

I was out late the other evening in our neighbourhood, which is very quiet and mostly car-free, and saw this small "rock" trundle over the path. Their legs are so tiny you can barely see them... It was a young hedgehog, and when we got close he didn't curl up, just froze where he was and pretended to be a real rock :rolleyes: I guess running is out of the question with those tiny legs.

And just a few metres further on there was another, larger "rock" in the grass that hadn't been there the day before. Very very cute!

[East Hill]

http://www.wildlifeuk.net/who-has-a-resident-hedgehog-t-59.html

http://www.wildlifeuk.net/feeding-hedgehogs-t-322.html

Two of my favourite threads from a site where I am a moderator :D .

East Hill

[Tuckervill]

I think if I was ever close enough to sniff a Black Bear, the overwhelming aroma in the air would definitely NOT be from the bear.


You know, I wasn't scared at all. Just had a slow realization that it was probably a bear. I did, right before falling asleep, remember that story about the 11 year old boy who was dragged out of his tent by a bear recently. I reached out and grabbed my son's hand while he slept and and just held it until I went to sleep, because I know that's an irrational fear. But now I'm not so sure it was irrational! Especially after, on the trail some miles away, we saw bear scat in a couple of different places. And we were parked at Bear Creek Horse Camp for our ride. yikes, now I'm really freaked out! lol.

Karen

[chickwhorips]

Anyone know what a black bear smells like?

Yes, its a very distinctive smell. Brown bears are worse, specially when its salmon season. Been walking through some alder bushes and smelled bear, never saw it though. Must've been sleeping.


Especially after, on the trail some miles away, we saw bear scat in a couple of different places. And we were parked at Bear Creek Horse Camp for our ride. yikes, now I'm really freaked out! lol.

Just remember to be safe, alert, and know what to do. Most of the time they are more afraid of you than you of them. In an area where they see many people, they just avoid you. Just make sure you have your food safely put away and no garbage around. The hardest thing up here is people coming up and having no idea about being around bears. They leave all their trash out and saying "EAT HERE".

[Tuckervill]

Thanks. I had read about black bears in Arkansas being timid around humans and I knew about the trash thing. All our food was in the car locked up (these aren't Yellowstone bears who know how to crack open a window). I left my camp kitchen out on the table, and I did consider whether it would still be there in one piece (it's a suitcase, basically with all the cooking stuff in it). Some of the stuff smells like food, I'm sure. It didn't appear to be touched at all. But I know in my gut that bear was really close--it probably wasn't just the smell that woke me up, a sound, maybe, that I don't remember.

However timid the black bears may be--there have been several incidents of black bears in back yards around here lately, including one in my own town. So I shouldn't get too complacent!

Karen