The warmer weather sees the start of baby season. We all both love and hate this time of year. Hedgehog babies are adorable but they bring a host of problems.
In a normal season in the UK hedgehogs will emerge from hibernation during March/April with the males waking up before the females. However as our weather turns milder many will not have hibernated at all or will have hibernated off and on for short periods. Those that have not been able to find an available food source will have perished as there are no natural food sources during the winter months. The population is very dependent on people putting out food for them all year round.
Mating happens between April and the end of September and it is entirely the female’s choice who her partner will be. The males circle the female and the female turn towards him so he cannot approach and she will make a lot of grunting and snorting noises. All this noise often attracts other males which can lead to the males fighting for mating rights. Often the female will get bored and wander off – it’s surprising any babies are born at all!!
Eventually however the female will find her ideal partner and she will let him mate with her which will hopefully lead to pregnancy. A female will have many different partners during the breeding season.
A female is pregnant for about 32 days. If the weather turns colder after mating then the female may hibernate again and this will put the pregnancy ‘on hold’ until she wakes up and development can continue.
Babies are born with their spines covered with a layer of skin that quickly disappears within a few hours of birth and their white spines appear. Babies are born blind and deaf – their ears aren’t open – and they are totally dependent on mum to feed and care for them. It is vitally important that the nest is not disturbed or people do not get too close as mum is likely to kill her babies if she feels there is danger.
Babies, unlike mum, are not nocturnal – this means that mum can leave her sleeping babies at night time whilst she goes out and finds food for herself. Daytime sees mum resting and sleeping whilst her babies feed. Danger comes as the babies get older. At about 16 days hedgehog babies look more like miniature hedgehogs their eyes open and they will soon start to explore the nest whilst mum is still asleep.
As her babies grow mum may decide to move her family and this can also bring problems. Mum will carry her babies the same way that other mammals do picking them up by the scruff of the neck and moving them one at a time. A hazardous time for the babies who may be dropped or forgotten (mum hedgehogs can’t count).
Mum will also remove any babies from the nest that aren’t 100% healthy. If you find a small hedgehog out alone then it may be one she has rejected. A lost hedgehog will shout for its mum making a loud high pitched squealing noise similar to the sound a piglet makes. If you find any stray hedgehogs it’s always worth listening out for others. There could be a nest nearby that mum hasn’t been able to return to.
A baby leaves mum when it gets to around 300g – that means it will be about the size of an apple. It will look exactly like a normal hedgehog but smaller.
You should intervene immediately if:-
you find a baby that is in immediate danger such as wandering on a road or a busy street
it’s smaller than an apple and/or it has white spines and/or its eyes are closed and there is no adult nearby
it’s sick or injured ie laying still in the middle of the lawn/field
it’s surrounded by flies or other animals are interested in it
it’s squeaking with it’s eyes shut
it’s next to a dead adult
it’s out in the daytime with temperatures below freezing
Pick the baby up and put it into a box and contact your local rescue – see our contact page
1 day old
10 days old
2 weeks old
1 month old
3 months old
