Hedgehog in the house.

yes they do , hopefully yours might not...

You can find out all you want to know about hedgehogs on www.hedgehogstreet.org
Yes, they have fleas.

Forgot to say, hedgehog fleas are host specific, so they do not live on humans or pets.
Unlike cat fleas.

It is probably still hibernating but will be active again soon at night. I know someone who has a mini Tiggywinkle's rescue for hedgehogs and has them in part of her home , she has never had a problem with fleas.

If the hedgehog since being disturbed starts wandering round in the day there is a problem and I would contact the nearest rescue. A box with a towel and hot water bottle well wrapped will help till you get it there. Nice that you care ...they are becoming rarer x

What a wonderful surprise! I hope all is well with the poor thing and that you find the right help to keep it safe. Please keep us informed. I love hedgehogs!

Thanks for the replies - I don't know what it's doing at the moment, but will keep an eye out for it wandering around at night.
I just can't understand how it got in, and how it got the mat to cover itself (not really a mat, a doubled square of old flanelette sheet.)
It's behind the cat's litter tray and I don't want Cat to get fleas - she had them once and it was a nightmare.

www.hedgehogstreet.org/forum/index.php?f=3

Hedgehogstreet want sightings of hedgehogs because they are becoming an endangered species.
Your cat should not get fleas from the hedgehog, Tricia. Neither should you!

Thanks to all - durhamjen that's a relief!
No change today.

How lovely! I love hedgehogs and am so sad that their numbers are seriously dwindling. I do hope your one is OK and I'm glad he's somehow managed to find a nice warm corner of your house to hibernate in .
Please keep us updated.

This took me back years to when DS1 was about 9/10. I came indoors to find him on the sofa with a hedgehog on his lap. I wasn't very amused, (the flea thing), and he had on my best gloves. We sprinkled it liberally with the cat's' flea powder, and the little blighters were jumping all over the place. This was 40 years ago and I can't remember what happened to Mr/Mrs Tiggywinkle.

Oh what an honour TriciaF, but how odd it has hibernated in your house.

Indiana, I didn't know hedgehog numbers were seriously dwindling. Is it due to so much building and different farming practices?

There was a hedgehog living in my garden, I only ever saw one at a time so assume it didn't have a mate - difficult to tell them apart except by size I expect. I trust it is still here, hibernating under the shed.

Very interested to know how things develop.

As a child there was always a hedgehog in the garden particularly on warm summer evenings. Haven't seen one for donkeys years. Poor things.

Remember Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle? That's what I'll have to call her.

I haven't rechecked, but I think cat or dog food (tinned) is enjoyed by hedgehogs, and good to feed them.

Could that be what tempted your Mrs Tiggy-Winkle indoors since you have a cat? I wonder???

That's lovely, I hope it's OK. I haven't seen a hedgehog for several years.

What a lovely surprise! Hedgehogs can move fast, so maybe your cat chased it indoors.

I would contact a local sanctuary and get some advice.

From Snuffle Lodge Hedgehog Rescue

Hibernaculums are the winter nests hogs use to hibernate – they are usually very well built, but could be indoors, under sheds, in compost heaps, even in newly built but unlit bonfires. The key here is to leave well alone – it can be dangerous for hogs to be woken from hibernation early. If you want to help your dozing hedgehog, please leave a shallow bowl of water and some dry cat biscuits out – hogs do stir occasionally for food, so these treats will be very welcome.

My daughter signed up a month or two ago to spend a night in undergrowth in Regent's Park on a hedgehog survey. One of her reasons was that she'd never seen a live hedgehog.
Novices were instructed by old hands and she certainly spent an interesting night and saw hedgehogs!

Please don't give your Mrs Tiggy-Winkle any milk, because they don't tolerate lactose and it will likely give them diarrhoea. I only mention it because it is often something people think they like (and actually, I think they do like it - it's just that it doesn't like them ). Plain water is best.

Greymary I believe their numbers are declining due to loss of habitat (new roads, housing, etc.) not to mention the huge number of them killed on the roads .

Years ago when DC were small we had quite a number of hedgehogs in our quite large garden. They were wonderful at eating pests and ate snails very noisily, it sounded just like boys eating crisps in the noisiest way possible. DC thought they were very funny.
On odd occasions we would find a hedgehog in our kitchen eating the cats' meat. They were very messy!

Apparently hedgehogs are declining in the wild at the same rate as tigers. On Springwatch last year, Michaela Strachan went hunting during the night for hedgehogs in Regents Park, as part of a project to track down the last remaining hedgehogs in central London. The hedgehogs are fitted with trackers to try and find out more about why numbers are in dropping so quickly and help other parks around the country preserve the population. IIRCC, it took hours to find a hedgehog and they think there's only about 5 hedgehogs in the whole of Regents park.

You can get a hedgehog for your garden from my local sanctuary. They eat the bugglies that eat your plants, but they will wander off if they can get out of your garden. They're very good at wiggling under fences!

The idea is that you encourage them to go out of your garden by building holes for them to pass through your fence. Big enough for hedgehogs but not big enough for cats and dogs.

They need long runs. If you encourage your neighbours to do the same, they will come back to your garden - if they can get in.

They must be able to get out of your garden, as they can wander a couple of miles at night. The trick is to entice them to come back to your garden.

If your garden is completely enclosed, I think some sanctuaries will let you adopt a disabled hedgehog. Hogs can climb though, so you can't have any climbing plants that can be used to escape. My local sanctuary doesn't let you adopt disabled hogs, but you can see them at open days. Even 3 legged hogs can shift quickly when they want!

Wilma - so few in RP! My daughter definitely saw some there.