In article , Druss
writes

Do you know if hedgehogs eat young toads - about 1" long? I have a couple
of baby toads in the garden and I expect they might be in danger of being
snapped-up too ?

I don't know, I think they tend to go for slightly smaller, slower moving
things, though if they really are going to eat slugs then I guess toads
wouldn't be out of the question, couldn't really taste much worse could they
?
Quite possibly they could. I believe they excrete a foul tasting liquid
purely to deter predators.

--
Kay Easton

Edward's earthworm page:
http://www.scarboro.demon.co.uk/edward/index.htm

Kay Easton wrote:

In article , Tom
Warner writes

"Tim" wrote in message
newsprrxvodruwxhha1@localhost...
On Mon, 07 Jul 2003 12:50:09 +0100, Stephen Howard
wrote:

On Mon, 07 Jul 2003 12:54:17 +0200, Tim
wrote:



There are quite a few local cats. Maybe I can rig up a cat-proof tunnel
or similar, but they're pretty ingenious animals. Any extra wildlife in
my garden is welcome. Ta.

Apparently all you need do is place a saucer over the bowl of cat
food. It appears that this will flummox the average cat, but will not
deter the hedgehog.

Ha, I like it ! I'll give it a try with a little bit, I don't want to stop
it eating it's natural food (unless it's toads :-) ).
Tim.

You could try dog food, my cats at least wouldn't touch the stuff, but
hedgehogs are not so fussy.

ISTR dog food is not good for hedgehogs. Not high enough meat content.

There is a tinned hedgehog food available, but I can't remember where I
saw it. Dog food plus biscuit, well soaked, is fine. Cat food plus dog
biscuit is also fine; even small quantities of bread&milk is fine. As
Pat Morris used to say, the thing to remember is that all of these are
junk food by hedgehog standards. Don't put out vast quantities, just
enough to encourage the hhogs to visit as they trundle about eating what
they should.

regards
sarah


--
Waist deep, neck deep
We'll be drowning before too long
We're neck deep in the Big Muddy
And the damned fools keep yelling to push on

On Mon, 07 Jul 2003 12:50:09 +0100, Stephen Howard
wrote:

On Mon, 07 Jul 2003 12:54:17 +0200, Tim
wrote:



There are quite a few local cats. Maybe I can rig up a cat-proof tunnel or
similar, but they're pretty ingenious animals. Any extra wildlife in my
garden is welcome. Ta.

Apparently all you need do is place a saucer over the bowl of cat
food. It appears that this will flummox the average cat, but will not
deter the hedgehog.

Regards

Hmm, this would not work with Phil Collins (our cat) he would kick the
saucer off of the bowl, and probably kick the hedgehog too, maybe even
eat it if he could get hold of it ............... he is a BIG hungry
cat !!

Kay Easton wrote:

In article , Tom
Warner writes

"Tim" wrote in message
newsprrxvodruwxhha1@localhost...
On Mon, 07 Jul 2003 12:50:09 +0100, Stephen Howard
wrote:

On Mon, 07 Jul 2003 12:54:17 +0200, Tim
wrote:



There are quite a few local cats. Maybe I can rig up a cat-proof tunnel
or similar, but they're pretty ingenious animals. Any extra wildlife in
my garden is welcome. Ta.

Apparently all you need do is place a saucer over the bowl of cat
food. It appears that this will flummox the average cat, but will not
deter the hedgehog.

Ha, I like it ! I'll give it a try with a little bit, I don't want to stop
it eating it's natural food (unless it's toads :-) ).
Tim.

You could try dog food, my cats at least wouldn't touch the stuff, but
hedgehogs are not so fussy.

ISTR dog food is not good for hedgehogs. Not high enough meat content.

There is a tinned hedgehog food available, but I can't remember where I
saw it. Dog food plus biscuit, well soaked, is fine. Cat food plus dog
biscuit is also fine; even small quantities of bread&milk is fine. As
Pat Morris used to say, the thing to remember is that all of these are
junk food by hedgehog standards. Don't put out vast quantities, just
enough to encourage the hhogs to visit as they trundle about eating what
they should.

regards
sarah


--
Waist deep, neck deep
We'll be drowning before too long
We're neck deep in the Big Muddy
And the damned fools keep yelling to push on

On Mon, 07 Jul 2003 12:50:09 +0100, Stephen Howard
wrote:

On Mon, 07 Jul 2003 12:54:17 +0200, Tim
wrote:



There are quite a few local cats. Maybe I can rig up a cat-proof tunnel or
similar, but they're pretty ingenious animals. Any extra wildlife in my
garden is welcome. Ta.

Apparently all you need do is place a saucer over the bowl of cat
food. It appears that this will flummox the average cat, but will not
deter the hedgehog.

Regards

Hmm, this would not work with Phil Collins (our cat) he would kick the
saucer off of the bowl, and probably kick the hedgehog too, maybe even
eat it if he could get hold of it ............... he is a BIG hungry
cat !!

Kay Easton wrote:

In article , Tom
Warner writes

"Tim" wrote in message
newsprrxvodruwxhha1@localhost...
On Mon, 07 Jul 2003 12:50:09 +0100, Stephen Howard
wrote:

On Mon, 07 Jul 2003 12:54:17 +0200, Tim
wrote:



There are quite a few local cats. Maybe I can rig up a cat-proof tunnel
or similar, but they're pretty ingenious animals. Any extra wildlife in
my garden is welcome. Ta.

Apparently all you need do is place a saucer over the bowl of cat
food. It appears that this will flummox the average cat, but will not
deter the hedgehog.

Ha, I like it ! I'll give it a try with a little bit, I don't want to stop
it eating it's natural food (unless it's toads :-) ).
Tim.

You could try dog food, my cats at least wouldn't touch the stuff, but
hedgehogs are not so fussy.

ISTR dog food is not good for hedgehogs. Not high enough meat content.

There is a tinned hedgehog food available, but I can't remember where I
saw it. Dog food plus biscuit, well soaked, is fine. Cat food plus dog
biscuit is also fine; even small quantities of bread&milk is fine. As
Pat Morris used to say, the thing to remember is that all of these are
junk food by hedgehog standards. Don't put out vast quantities, just
enough to encourage the hhogs to visit as they trundle about eating what
they should.

regards
sarah


--
Waist deep, neck deep
We'll be drowning before too long
We're neck deep in the Big Muddy
And the damned fools keep yelling to push on

On Mon, 07 Jul 2003 12:50:09 +0100, Stephen Howard
wrote:

On Mon, 07 Jul 2003 12:54:17 +0200, Tim
wrote:



There are quite a few local cats. Maybe I can rig up a cat-proof tunnel or
similar, but they're pretty ingenious animals. Any extra wildlife in my
garden is welcome. Ta.

Apparently all you need do is place a saucer over the bowl of cat
food. It appears that this will flummox the average cat, but will not
deter the hedgehog.

Regards

Hmm, this would not work with Phil Collins (our cat) he would kick the
saucer off of the bowl, and probably kick the hedgehog too, maybe even
eat it if he could get hold of it ............... he is a BIG hungry
cat !!

Kay Easton wrote:

In article , Tom
Warner writes

"Tim" wrote in message
newsprrxvodruwxhha1@localhost...
On Mon, 07 Jul 2003 12:50:09 +0100, Stephen Howard
wrote:

On Mon, 07 Jul 2003 12:54:17 +0200, Tim
wrote:



There are quite a few local cats. Maybe I can rig up a cat-proof tunnel
or similar, but they're pretty ingenious animals. Any extra wildlife in
my garden is welcome. Ta.

Apparently all you need do is place a saucer over the bowl of cat
food. It appears that this will flummox the average cat, but will not
deter the hedgehog.

Ha, I like it ! I'll give it a try with a little bit, I don't want to stop
it eating it's natural food (unless it's toads :-) ).
Tim.

You could try dog food, my cats at least wouldn't touch the stuff, but
hedgehogs are not so fussy.

ISTR dog food is not good for hedgehogs. Not high enough meat content.

There is a tinned hedgehog food available, but I can't remember where I
saw it. Dog food plus biscuit, well soaked, is fine. Cat food plus dog
biscuit is also fine; even small quantities of bread&milk is fine. As
Pat Morris used to say, the thing to remember is that all of these are
junk food by hedgehog standards. Don't put out vast quantities, just
enough to encourage the hhogs to visit as they trundle about eating what
they should.

regards
sarah


--
Waist deep, neck deep
We'll be drowning before too long
We're neck deep in the Big Muddy
And the damned fools keep yelling to push on

On Mon, 07 Jul 2003 12:50:09 +0100, Stephen Howard
wrote:

On Mon, 07 Jul 2003 12:54:17 +0200, Tim
wrote:



There are quite a few local cats. Maybe I can rig up a cat-proof tunnel or
similar, but they're pretty ingenious animals. Any extra wildlife in my
garden is welcome. Ta.

Apparently all you need do is place a saucer over the bowl of cat
food. It appears that this will flummox the average cat, but will not
deter the hedgehog.

Regards

Hmm, this would not work with Phil Collins (our cat) he would kick the
saucer off of the bowl, and probably kick the hedgehog too, maybe even
eat it if he could get hold of it ............... he is a BIG hungry
cat !!

The message
from Kay Easton contains these words:

In article oprrxj7yavwxhha1@localhost, Tim timnothy.cohsalpleangmer@a
pk.at writes
I'm afraid I don't have a photo but can anyone confirm the likely identity
of the layer of these droppings.

They're jet black, about 4" long and around as thick as my little-finger
(1.5cm), straight and tapering to a point at one end.
Not obvious remains of seeds or insects in them that I could make
out. They
only seem to appear overnight.

I'm assuming it's a hedgehog, am I right?

A bit long, but otherwise sounds about right.

4 " droppings would be some giant of a hedgehog; I've never seen them
do droppings larger than an inch! Sounds more like fox to me; especially
if the tapered point turns up.

Janet

"Janet Baraclough" wrote in message
...
The message
from Kay Easton contains these words:

In article oprrxj7yavwxhha1@localhost, Tim timnothy.cohsalpleangmer@a
pk.at writes
I'm afraid I don't have a photo but can anyone confirm the likely
identity
of the layer of these droppings.

They're jet black, about 4" long and around as thick as my
little-finger
(1.5cm), straight and tapering to a point at one end.
Not obvious remains of seeds or insects in them that I could make
out. They
only seem to appear overnight.

I'm assuming it's a hedgehog, am I right?

A bit long, but otherwise sounds about right.

4 " droppings would be some giant of a hedgehog; I've never seen them
do droppings larger than an inch! Sounds more like fox to me; especially
if the tapered point turns up.

Janet

Could it be a badger? IIRC the badgers that trashed our lawn last autumn
left 4" droppings and dark. But I cannot remember much else about their
deposits.
Jay

On Tue, 8 Jul 2003 07:19:42 +0100, Jay wrote:


"Janet Baraclough" wrote in message
...
The message
from Kay Easton contains these words:

In article oprrxj7yavwxhha1@localhost, Tim
timnothy.cohsalpleangmer@a
pk.at writes
I'm afraid I don't have a photo but can anyone confirm the likely
identity
of the layer of these droppings.

They're jet black, about 4" long and around as thick as my
little-finger
(1.5cm), straight and tapering to a point at one end.
Not obvious remains of seeds or insects in them that I could make
out. They
only seem to appear overnight.

I'm assuming it's a hedgehog, am I right?

A bit long, but otherwise sounds about right.

4 " droppings would be some giant of a hedgehog; I've never seen them
do droppings larger than an inch! Sounds more like fox to me; especially
if the tapered point turns up.

Janet

Could it be a badger? IIRC the badgers that trashed our lawn last autumn
left 4" droppings and dark. But I cannot remember much else about their
deposits.
Jay

Definitely 4" maximum, but not much less normally, say aound 3" might be a
better average. It's straight, not in a heap like I'd expect a fox to do
(do they do it like that?). I'll check if the end points up next time I
spot one. I'd have thought a fox would have made a much thicker stool than
that though, wouldn't it?
The droppings are fairly firm by the time I discover them. It could be a
fox, though I've never seen or heard any anywhere near, but I'm told there
are some around. I doubt it's a badger - it's mostly open farmland around
with only light copses for cover, and there's been no damage or diging.
(Maybe I'm lucky).

Tim.

On Mon, 7 Jul 2003 18:20:46 +0100, sw wrote:

Kay Easton wrote:

In article , Tom
Warner writes

"Tim" wrote in message
newsprrxvodruwxhha1@localhost...
On Mon, 07 Jul 2003 12:50:09 +0100, Stephen Howard

wrote:

On Mon, 07 Jul 2003 12:54:17 +0200, Tim
wrote:



There are quite a few local cats. Maybe I can rig up a cat-proof
tunnel
or similar, but they're pretty ingenious animals. Any extra
wildlife in
my garden is welcome. Ta.

Apparently all you need do is place a saucer over the bowl of cat
food. It appears that this will flummox the average cat, but will
not
deter the hedgehog.

Ha, I like it ! I'll give it a try with a little bit, I don't want to
stop
it eating it's natural food (unless it's toads :-) ).
Tim.

You could try dog food, my cats at least wouldn't touch the stuff, but
hedgehogs are not so fussy.

ISTR dog food is not good for hedgehogs. Not high enough meat content.

There is a tinned hedgehog food available, but I can't remember where I
saw it. Dog food plus biscuit, well soaked, is fine. Cat food plus dog
biscuit is also fine; even small quantities of bread&milk is fine. As
Pat Morris used to say, the thing to remember is that all of these are
junk food by hedgehog standards. Don't put out vast quantities, just
enough to encourage the hhogs to visit as they trundle about eating what
they should.

regards
sarah

Right, I only want to keep it interested, and pay the occasional visit. I
don't want to turn it into a junk-food junkie, or be dependent on me for
food. If it's full of cat food it's not going to be eating any nasties in
my garden either.

Tim.

On Mon, 7 Jul 2003 20:08:17 +0100, Janet Baraclough
wrote:

The message
from Kay Easton contains these words:

In article oprrxj7yavwxhha1@localhost, Tim timnothy.cohsalpleangmer@a
pk.at writes
I'm afraid I don't have a photo but can anyone confirm the likely identity
of the layer of these droppings.

They're jet black, about 4" long and around as thick as my little-finger
(1.5cm), straight and tapering to a point at one end.
Not obvious remains of seeds or insects in them that I could make
out. They
only seem to appear overnight.

I'm assuming it's a hedgehog, am I right?

A bit long, but otherwise sounds about right.

4 " droppings would be some giant of a hedgehog; I've never seen them
do droppings larger than an inch! Sounds more like fox to me; especially
if the tapered point turns up.

Janet


Ah .... but on the other hand could it be the return of "Spiny
Norman", the giant hedgehog that was known to track the gangster
Dinsdale Piranha??

http://www.ironworks.com/comedy/python/piranha.htm

Geoff

On Mon, 7 Jul 2003 20:08:17 +0100, Janet Baraclough
wrote:

The message
from Kay Easton contains these words:

In article oprrxj7yavwxhha1@localhost, Tim timnothy.cohsalpleangmer@a
pk.at writes
I'm afraid I don't have a photo but can anyone confirm the likely identity
of the layer of these droppings.

They're jet black, about 4" long and around as thick as my little-finger
(1.5cm), straight and tapering to a point at one end.
Not obvious remains of seeds or insects in them that I could make
out. They
only seem to appear overnight.

I'm assuming it's a hedgehog, am I right?

A bit long, but otherwise sounds about right.

4 " droppings would be some giant of a hedgehog; I've never seen them
do droppings larger than an inch! Sounds more like fox to me; especially
if the tapered point turns up.

Janet


Ah .... but on the other hand could it be the return of "Spiny
Norman", the giant hedgehog that was known to track the gangster
Dinsdale Piranha??

http://www.ironworks.com/comedy/python/piranha.htm

Geoff