How to catch a hedgehog
The beginning of April is a special time of the year. This is not only a day of laughter - right now hedgehogs wake up en masse in the vast expanses of our homeland. This article is unique material of its kind - with an abundance of hedgehogs around us, they go unnoticed by most citizens. And all blackberries either buy hedgehogs in nurseries, or take a hedgehog when he, literally, is already knocking on the door of a country house. We will try to catch a hedgehog on our own. This text is that rare information in our industry that does not expire after six months, then perhaps the only useful knowledge that you can pass on to your children. Well, you still work at night, so why not take a break and take a walk?
The number of hedgehogs around us is criminally underestimated. The fact that you still have not caught a single one is explained not by the fact that they are not around you, but by the fact that the peak of activity of hedgehogs falls at night. And then this is only partly true - the hedgehogs go hunting at a time when everything around is calm and as quiet as possible. And it is a pure coincidence that in cities this time falls at night. Most likely during your evening and night walks you already encountered hedgehogs - inarticulate loud rustles in the bushes, something inaudible and too small for a cat to cross the road in the distance, piercing screams of abrupt cries in the distance that you attributed to rabid cats or unknown birds. The hedgehogs are omnivorous and well protected from predators, which makes the typical post-Soviet city, with its garbage dumps and spread out buildings, a great haven for hundreds of hedgehogs.
Why you should not catch a hedgehog
With all the apparent mercy, hedgehogs bite very painfully, and the number of parasites on them can be horrifying. Hedgehogs can serve as carriers for diseases such as dermatomycosis, yellow fever, salmonellosis, leptospirosis, and rabies. They also abound in ticks and fleas. In areas where outbreaks of encephalitis are noted, and especially in Siberia, the Urals and the Far East, you should whenever possible refrain from trying to catch this beast. In any case, it will be useful for you to know the epidemiological situation in your area before you begin.
Remember that you can be bitten by a rabid or an ordinary hedgehog - just to make you crazy of how he can. But the course of injections from rabies (and this is a minimum of 5 pieces) you have to go through. For there is no greater humiliation for a programmer than death is not in his right mind and not in good memory.
Of course, this is all officialdom - I have caught hedgehogs over the years, the number of which has long exceeded one hundred, there were none of the above diseases. But we can’t know if I was lucky or not lucky for those who got the same rabies, so be very careful.
Where to catch a hedgehog
Hedgehogs are ubiquitous throughout the territory of the former USSR in areas with a temperate cold climate, where there are pronounced winter and summer. At the latitude of St. Petersburg, hedgehogs are found for sure, but if you live north ... look and find. If in your region the temperature is higher than 10-12 degrees for 4-5 months a year, then most likely you have hedgehogs. Which hedgehog you catch varies depending on latitude: European, eared, or none at all. The former are common in Ukraine, Belarus, western, northern, parts of Russia, and generally in the middle lane. Eared hedgehogs can be found starting from the eastern steppes of Ukraine, southern Russia and throughout Central Asia. Also in the Transbaikalia region you can catch the Daurian hedgehog, but this beast is rare and its population is small. So we restrict ourselves to two main types.
Now, since we have decided on the region, let's look at specific places in your village where the hedgehog can be caught. If you live in an area where there is little greenery, shrubs, no landfills, all the lawns are narrow strips along the roads, then most likely you will not find a hedgehog there. Hedgehogs are often attracted by urban garbage when it comes to feeding, but they also need to live and winter somewhere. Look for a suitable green area.
Hedgehogs are almost guaranteed to live in places where there are summer cottages or the private sector nearby, in city parks, in old sleeping areas of poor development, where the front gardens have been overgrown for decades. Hedgehogs often come to kindergartens and schools - the surrounding area, as well as the presence of last year's heaps of leaves, gives them a place for wintering. On the edge of the city, unless it is a scorched steppe, there are also many hedgehogs. Outside the city there is generally darkness.
The main thing to remember is that the population of hedgehogs in your city is usually roughly comparable to the population of stray dogs. The only difference is that the latter wanted to spit on whether they go unnoticed or not. And also that hedgehogs are more sensitive to the time of day for reeling around the city.
When to catch a hedgehog
Hedgehogs hibernate when freezing begins, and wake up when the air temperature rises to 15 degrees during the day. This means that in the middle lane you can find a hedgehog from mid-April to mid-October. But in case of large temperature differences, hedgehogs wake up already in March - when abnormally warm days are replaced by night frosts. Only while they have nothing to eat.
In the first weeks after awakening, hedgehogs justify the legend of their smell - they stink scary. This is due to the fact that after hibernation, during which the entire metabolism of the hedgehog was supported by the breakdown of fat reserves, metabolic products are removed from the animal’s body for a long time. In June-July, the hedgehogs smell not so bad. Race in hedgehogs begins almost immediately after waking up, hedgehogs are born in a month and a half. A month later they begin to leave the nest with their mother. And this means that in April you have a great chance to run into a flock of three or more hedgehogs, forcing them to mating games. But in the middle of summer you can already find a hedgehog with a brood in the grass.
First you must decide what you want from a hedgehog. If you just look at it, then you can catch everywhere and at any time when they are not sleeping. If you want to take a hedgehog in your arms or to your home, then you will probably be interested in having as few ticks on the hedgehog as possible, and in general he himself would be as healthy as possible. In this case, you should not try to catch a hedgehog in the spring, but rather wait until mid-summer. After waking up, the body of the hedgehog hangs like a rag - if you grab it by the back, squeezing a few needles into a bundle, it will “fall out” of its needles and cannot curl up until you release it to the ground. The first month such thinness after hibernation is fundamentally indistinguishable from thinness caused by diseases or ticks. And then we can definitely say that a skinny hedgehog is sick, and a well-fed one is healthy. Well, you should remember
Speaking about the time of day, it is not necessary to be categorical in the fact that hedgehogs are exclusively nocturnal animals. It all depends on the situation - hedgehogs can leave the nest outside the city during the day, if everything is calm around. The best time to catch hedgehogs in the city is from 9 pm to 3 nights. Or an hour after sunset. But this does not mean at all that when you return home early in the morning, you will not be able to trip over a hedgehog, distracted by the rising sun.
How to catch a hedgehog
So, you did go out after 9 pm, making sure that the thermometer was about +10, which usually means that in the afternoon the air warmed up to +15. What to do? Where to go? If you do not feel a sense of habitat for hedgehogs, the easiest way to find out about them is to ask dog breeders who walk their pets in the late hours. These people most likely already ran into hedgehogs, and by no means more than once. So by asking a couple of dog owners, you will find out exactly where the chance is to run into a hedgehog.
Well, for those who do not have friends who have dogs, this list of locations for catching hedgehogs will be useful.
The outskirts of your village. Provided that this is not a steppe, the height of the grass in which is not enough even to tickle the hedgehog's puziko. The private sector is also suitable here.
Kindergartens and schools - usually there is enough territory and shrubs, so that hedgehogs were where to live and winter.
Old areas of the city, which, again, managed to acquire vegetation, and where there is no heavy traffic. Quiet green courtyards are also suitable.
City parks and squares, of course.
Garbage cans.
Hedgehogs are a cheap substitute for raccoons on our continent, and if in the USA raccoons can get into trash and sometimes are the scourge of households, then hedgehogs, due to their low dexterity, can only pick up what has not reached the trash. But if garbage often does not reach the container, and in general the garbage smells from afar, then be sure that the hedgehogs will be there. It will be enough for you to watch such a garbage for a couple of hours, and you will notice a hedgehog among cats. Do you have the guts to take the bastard in your hands after you catch him with such a dirty business - another story. And if you don’t have enough, then do not despair, you can try to catch a hedgehog in one of the other places listed above.
Hedgehogs often carry dog and cat food from bowls. Often in the courtyards there are such flocked packs of dogs or herds of cats that have their own bowls in which a caring lonely grandmother pours food for this whole company, near some of the entrances of your house. So, if the food stays regularly at night, then the question of the appearance of hedgehogs (if there are any in the district of course) near that bowl is only a matter of time. Pokaraulte a couple of evenings, it’s worth it - hedgehogs, cats, dogs in this case wander in one area, which means that if you see that your dogs are cheerful and healthy, that their muzzle is not covered with ticks, then it’s relatively safe to catch hedgehogs .
If your wait was unsuccessful, then arm yourself with a flashlight more powerful, an old thick shirt or sweater, or a thick terry towel, wrapping a hedgehog with it, you can pull it out of the grass and bushes into the light of day. Do not forget the bag of cat food, but not dry. And remember that wandering in the above places after sunset, you can meet not only a hedgehog, but also a patrol who wants to verify the authenticity of your documents, alcoholics or simply gopniks who want to check your financial situation and, possibly, the strength of your head, and also a flock of stray dogs who want to check the quality of the pants on your ass. Alas, this is the national specificity of fishing for hedgehogs in urban conditions.
So, you walk through the park / school grounds / outskirts of the city and shine a flashlight in the grass and under each bush. Most likely, you won’t find a hedgehog until he runs out onto the road or under your feet. In the light of a lantern, especially an LED, which distorts colors, it is difficult to distinguish a carcass of a hedgehog against a background of grass. Therefore, the easiest way to look for a hedgehog is by sound. You must walk slowly and silently along a bush or thick grass, listening to the rustling sounds. If you hear that somewhere grass or shrubs rustle, and this does not look like wind, then quietly go in that direction. If the noise ceases, then stop, and stand absolutely silent for a couple of tens of seconds. You can immediately shine in that place, watch only that the beam of a lamp does not twitch. If there really is a hedgehog, then he will freeze for a few seconds every time he hears you. But in the dense grass, even a lantern will not help you - a hedgehog simply will not be visible while it is motionless. You should go a distance of 3-5 meters to the source of noise and point the lamp at that place, and maybe you will see a hedgehog. But more often than a cat or a person who has not shown proper moderation when drinking alcohol.
If you immediately see a hedgehog, or see that someone is cutting through the grass without showing himself, then the most difficult is already behind. But as soon as you begin to drastically reduce the distance between yourself and the hedgehog, the hedgehog can either freeze or rush away from you. It’s not that they ran very fast, but they usually run into the bushes or into a hole in the fence. Therefore, your task is to throw a shirt / sweater / towel on it as soon as possible and press it on top with your hands. Just do not press hard. You are unlikely to crush the hedgehog, but he can prick you. Well, or you can try to push it with your foot out of the bushes, if the hedgehog still decided to freeze, being in the hope that you still did not notice him. Only if the grass is dense, then it will be awesome as it’s not so simple, so do not curl up and take the hedgehog through a thick layer of matter. Just make sure that this is not a mother with hedgehogs. Just look so that small hedgehogs do not rustle around. They do not need to be touched, because the hedgehog may not even let its offspring into the nest if it smells of something that, in its opinion, does not inspire confidence - for example, you. You do not need to touch the hedgehog, because they themselves will not find the way to the nest. You are not going to take them every night to feed and go home instead of your mother? That's just the same.
And carry, carry the hedgehog to where he cannot sneak into his native bushes. Well, or don’t put a hedgehog on the ground, but take a picture with him without getting out of a rag, and put it where you took it. If you are still burning with the desire to feel the hedgehog for his tender belly, then bring him to the light, where the animal can be carefully examined. First things first, take the wand 2 times thicker than the match and 3 times longer, and wave it under the nose of the hedgehog, just do not hit the nose. If the hedgehog did not grab her with his teeth, then this is encouraging. The fact is, when you take them in your arms, hedgehogs rarely bite, but some can literally cling to you, even if you just carry his face past the sleeve of his shirt. And the hedgehogs bite painfully, and they have a good grip. And although they can rarely bite to the blood, it’s better not to tempt fate - if the hedgehog is so eager to bite you, then you should not find out if he is mad or just very upset by your actions. Let go of sin.
So you carried the hedgehog on the asphalt / bench or on another flat surface. The first seconds you touch the hedgehog, it will twitch over and over again, sharply clattering the needle, at this moment it is very easy to prick. You can easily determine this period by the sound - the hedgehog will puff very quickly, and at the moments when the needles are puffing, you will hear a very loud exhalation. When the pant stops, you can try to take. Put the hedgehog on the ground and gently poke the boot with your toe several times in a row until it stops twitching from the touch. The next thing to watch is ticks. It’s relatively easy to understand whether to touch the hedgehog further - look under his belly. It is useless to put it on its back - when the hedgehog lies on its back, it is always folded.
You have 2 options for examining your belly belly, depending on the fatness of the hedgehog. The first is suitable for hedgehogs that have recently left their hibernation - you should try to take a dozen or two needles on the hedgehog’s back and raise them for them. You will immediately feel a thin hedgehog or not - the thin one will literally fall out of your skin. And while the hedgehog will hang on the folds of its own skin, you can contemplate its belly for ticks. If you have more than 1 needle left in your hands, then the hedgehog is sick, and it is undesirable to touch it further. If the hedgehog is already fattened and does not want to fall out of the skin, then you need to act more cunningly. Put the hedgehog on the ground and wait until it begins to crawl away from you. Then he will put one of his hind legs outside the spiky cover. Grab your paw carefully and don't let it go. Then start by holding the back leg of the hedgehog in weight, push him forward so he takes a few more steps. In one of the steps he sticks out his second paw - grab her. Now gently raise the hedgehog by its hind legs and gently lift it off the ground. And then the hedgehog can begin to squeal. Not because he was hurt, but because he was scared. He screams veryloudly , and no video can transmit how loud and piercing the cry of a hedgehog on a quiet night. But there are relatively few such hedgehogs. Usually you should prettyly “pinch” the hedgehog by the heels so that it starts to show loud dissatisfaction, so if you just look, then the chance to wake the yard with hellish cries is small. If the hedgehog started to scream, then just lay it on the ground and repeat the procedure after a few seconds. Come on, look out for ticks.
If the tick test was satisfactory and the hedgehog did not go to the bushes from which it was extracted, then congratulations - you caught the hedgehog. Use it.
What to do with a hedgehog
For good, just taking a picture with him for memory is enough. And you can gently place your palm under the belly of the hedgehog and hold in your hands, namino belly. Only without sudden movements - if the hedgehog begins to curl up, then its face will be dangerously close to your fingers. Well, then you can let go. Pre-fed. A bag of Wiskas, bought at a nearby convenience store, is very popular with hedgehogs. Taking a hedgehog home is a bad idea, they are dirty, stupid (dumber than rats), they will tear off the wallpaper (on the nest) from the walls, like to get stuck behind a battery / piano / under a cupboard and die there. And of course, the stomp that will haunt you at night. So the best hedgehog is the hedgehog that lives on the street.