"The Night Visitor"

[Sean Regan]

It was a golf and shopping day today, so no gardening.
Checked the cameras. Hetti had gone about her business, but between appearances on the camera, the pesky cat had somehow forced its way in behind the mesh fence. #

It didn't do anything, I guess it was just curious, but I don't need it. Nor I suspect does Hetti.

I've, "strengthened the defences."

 

[Sean Regan]

I've sorted out the fence so that the cat get in now, (hopefully) anyway it didn't appear in any of the hundred plus photos and videos on this camera last night.

All a bit boring really, Hetti came out about 10.00pm. As far as I can tell, spent most of the time inside the wire fence feeding and wandering around and only went outside for a drink a couple of times.

Whilst she was out of shot of the camera, Marcel the field mouse dashed in for a suet pellet and was away.

Hetti went to bed around 4.30am, she'd eaten all the pellets, so I guess she'd nothing better to do.

More activity at the bottom end of the garden.


Another hedgehog showed a bit of interest in the house near midnight, but didn't go in.

Then several hours later the pesky cat turned up had a look then stood on the roof of the house, to jump up to the top of the fence.

Followed by a young fox, half an hour later, who also used the house to jump over the fence.

More sorting out for me to do, I'll probably string some wire across the corner of the fences and might put something else on the top of the house so they can't stand on it.

 

[Sheal]

Rose prunings work well Sean, they won't like the thorns.

 

[Sean Regan]

Rose prunings work well Sean, they won't like the thorns.

Thanks for that. I've strung some garden wire across in a sort of mesh triangle between the tops of the adjoining panels and half-way down, so that'll put them off.
Cats and foxes can climb six foot fence panels, you can't stop them but they won't now be doing it next to the house.

 

[Sean Regan]

Hetti followed her usual routine, more or less, came out at 10.00pm to start her dinner,

Pottered around inside the mesh fence, then eating more dinner.

But there's about an hour and a half, "unaccounted for." She probably had a wander around the garden.
Although Marcel was about, seems to be getting a bit braver.

Turned in at around 4.30am

The other house got another inspection by "persons unknown."

Then the cat turned up four hours later. Wasn't able to jump over the fence any more because of the wires I put across the top. Hopefully we'll see less of it now, unlikely to get a prospective tenant if it persists.

 

[Sean Regan]

Hetti came out at 9.32 last night.

Got stuck into her dinner after a 2 minute sniff around. She ate all that over a few hours. Some of the pellets are soft others are crunchy, you can hear when she's chewing a crunchy bit.

Nothing different to report other than she went AWOL for an hour and a half.
Probably decided that she didn't need to guard her house and had a wander around the garden.

The "other" hedgehog made a further examination of the second house.

You can see his/hers back end entering the corridor that leads to the doorway.

Ah! I thought, it's moving in!


No it's not, that's his/her eye you can see as they're coming straight out the other side!

You can hear on the videos blackbirds already singing at 4.30 am.

No recordings of cats or foxes.

 

[Sean Regan]

Tried to do a bit of detective work this morning.
Examining the file from the main camera, the earliest photo of Hetti was at 12.33am at her feeding bowl and the last 4.21 "exiting stage left." There are none of her going in or out of her house, but a lot of her feeding.

From 12.15am until about 3.00am you would think it was "The Marcel the Mouse" show, the number of times he appeared. I should point out, that I accept there may be more than one mouse, but no more than one has ever appeared in the same clip.
What I did notice were the white marks on Hetti's spines. One on her back and one on her left hip.

There are similar marks on the visitor to the other house last night

The clips from this camera are from around nine to ten in the evening when this one was "loitering." It went in the entrance, but appeared in a slightly later clip outside. Some of the pellets I left in the "corridor" have been eaten.

Although the marks look similar they aren't the same.

Making a hole in the concrete base panel of a fence was difficult to do without breaking it. So I "stitch drilled it." That's drilling holes close together through it in a semi-circular line. Then knocking it out with a lump hammer. This leaves sharp edges which I covered with a mortar render, so they may be brushing against that.

 

[Sean Regan]

I have to report that there was a break-in to Hetti's enclosure last night and some property stolen, namely a food dish and its contents of various types of hedgehog pellets. Fortunately she was away from home at the time so a traumatic experience was avoided. She left the enclosure at 1.11am and the offence occurred at 1.30am.

The theft was only discovered on her return at. 2.02am.
The theft was recorded on the security camera and the “perp” can be clearly identified, (photo supplied)

However, the police say there's little chance of an arrest as, “these sort of offenders always look the same.”


Extra security measures are being taken to ensure this won't occur again.

"In other news..."

The other house now has a tenant although they are still suspicious of the camera.

I have three video clips of it going into the house, though come to think about it, none of it coming out.
So it might be a case of "multiple-occupancy."
I doubt it, as there's a ten second gap between every video, so plenty of time not to be caught coming out.

 

[Tetters]

This is such a fascinating thread - who needs TV

 

[Sean Regan]

Breaking news (1/06/23).

A report from Spike Prickle, the BBC's Hedgehog Correspondent. (why not? They have them for everything else!)

A further break-in and theft as previously reported, occurred at the same address early this morning at 4.41 am.

Clearly shown on our security camera.

Once again, there was a theft of a bowl and its contents.

When asked, why the further security measures promised had not prevented the crime, a spokesperson said. “Piss Off!”


Seriously, I have put more metal rods and wires around the perimeter, so I’m thinking it may be getting in by scaling the fence between the two gardens and dropping down, through the azaleas, which won’t do them much good.

Foxes do collect stuff, when we had “Fiona” and her cubs under our summerhouse four years ago, she used to steal small soft toys and balls from other gardens and bring them back for the cubs to play with.

We’ve now lost two bowls.

This is why.

I can only imagine that it is either just a china collector or maybe it thinks if it puts the bowls in another garden, someone will fill them again.

It was probably on top of the other house as it thought it could scale the fence from there, it’s not been recorded getting out that way since I put wires across the corner to prevent this happing.

It’s easy enough for it to get out by scaling the Japanese lantern near the rockery.
I didn't put another bowl out last night, just loose pellets

I didn't put another bowl out last night, just scattered pellets around in front of the house.

I had the camera covering the fence and azaleas. The fox didn't appear last night.

 

[Tetters]

Well, there's no option really, is there - not now. Frederick the fox would enjoy a piece of chicken, or maybe a steak (chips not necessarily needed) with some lightly steamed vegetables. Just one helping a day would suffice, because Frederick gets hungry too

 

[Tetters]

By the way, I used to feed hedgehogs and a stray cat. They would often both use the same dish and at the same time, however, mostly the cat would sit back and wait for the hog to finish eating first - ahh!

 

[Sean Regan]

I think the attention of the fox was too much for Hetti, as she's moved into the house at the bottom of the garden. I leave food in a dish in the entrance to the house and water in a bowl next to the pagoda.

Last night she paid her original house a visit, didn't go in, but was snuffling around in front of it for a while.

No further signs of the fox. It's probably adding to its china collection from elsewhere.

 

[Sean Regan]

Well.. Our garden was like Piccadilly Circus last night.


Hettie emerged from the bottom house around 9.30pm last night and was in and out of it with long gaps in between, until she came out and disappeared again at 1.26am

At 1.41 there was an unwelcome visitor, a fox found a bird in the corner of the garden behind the hog house.
It was probably a sick one that had ended up there.

Hettie was in and out again between 2.00am and 4.00am
The fox returned at 4.31am and tried to get into the house, but was unsuccessful.

Hettie was then out and about between 5.00 am and 7.00am.

Here's a rare non infa-red photo as it was now daylight.

Meanwhile, "back at the ranch," Hettie appears at 10.00pm and is round and about for four hours. She did go in the house for a while at 4.27am but came out again.

At 4.32am the fox arrived and was snuffling around trying to eat four day old hedgehog pellets in the dirt.

Hang on! at 4.31am it was trying to get into the other house!

Now I'd synchronised the time clocks on the cameras, so maybe there's two foxes? This would not be uncommon in our crescent, we had six born under our summerhouse four years ago.
Hettie was still snuffling around that house until gone 5.00am.

So she's backwards and forwards between the two houses all night. She must go everywhere in the garden as I've found hedgehog poo on the rockery and the rose patio.


I'll have to beef up the security at the bottom of the garden to deter the fox, without making it more difficult for Hettie to get in and out of her house.
Just another job!

 

[Sean Regan]

I do feel a bit sorry for the foxes, to be scrabbling about trying to eat four day old hedgehog pellets in the dirt, must mean they are really hungry. But I'm not sorry enough to put food out for them. But I know some people might.