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 in the vast expanses of our country hedgehogs are massively waking up. This article is a unique material - with an abundance of hedgehogs around us, they go unnoticed by the majority of citizens. And all the annuals either buy hedgehogs in nurseries, or take a hedgehog, when he, literally, already knocks on the door of a country house. We will try to catch a hedgehog on our own. This text is the rare information in our industry that will not become obsolete in six months, it is perhaps the only useful knowledge that you can pass on to your children. Well, you still work at night, so why not take a breather and take a walk?

The number of hedgehogs around us is criminally underestimated. The fact that you have not yet caught a single one is due more likely not to the fact that they are not around you, but to the fact that the peak of hedgehogs is at night. And then this is only partly true - hedgehogs come out to hunt at a time when everything is calm and as quiet as possible. And it’s a pure coincidence that in cities this time is at night. Most likely during your evening and night walks you have already encountered hedgehogs - muffled loud rustles in the bushes, something muffled and too small for a cat, running across the road in the distance, piercing shouts abrupt screams not far away, which you attributed to the hulled cats or unknown birds. Hedgehogs are omnivores and are well protected from predators, which makes a typical post-Soviet city with its garbage dumps and smeared 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 terrify. Hedgehogs can serve as carriers for such diseases as ringworm, yellow fever, salmonellosis, leptospirosis, rabies. Mites and fleas are also abundant on them. In areas where there are outbreaks of encephalitis, and especially in Siberia, in the Urals and the Far East, you should, if possible, refrain from trying to catch this animal at all. In any case, it will be useful for you to know the epidemiological situation in your area before you begin.

Remember that a mad hedgehog and a common hedgehog can bite you - just so that you get the hell out of how he can. But the course of rabies shots (which is at least 5 pieces) you have to go. 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 - in my years of catching hedgehogs, the number of which has long exceeded one hundred, there were no any of the above diseases. But we can’t know if I was lucky or unlucky for those who were infected with the same rabies, so be very careful.

Where to catch a hedgehog

Hedgehogs are widespread throughout the former USSR in areas with a moderately cold climate, where there are pronounced winter and summer. At the latitude of St. Petersburg, hedgehogs are found exactly, but if you live to the north ... look and you will find it. If in your region the temperature above 10-12 degrees is kept for 4-5 months a year, then most likely you have hedgehogs. Depending on the latitude, the hedgehog you catch will vary: European, eared, or none at all. The first ones are common in Ukraine, Belarus, western, northern, parts of Russia, and generally in the middle lane. Eagle 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 a Dahurian hedgehog, but this beast is rare and its livestock is small. So we confine ourselves to two main types. The main difference for us between the European and eared hedgehogs is that the first leg is almost invisible under the fur coat, and the second leg is long, there are no needles on the sides, as well as large ears.

Now, since we have decided on the region, let's consider specific places in your village where the hedgehog can be caught. If you live in an area where there is little greenery, bushes, no landfills, all lawns are narrow strips along the roads, then most likely you will not find a hedgehog. Hedgehogs are often attracted to city dumps when it comes to feeding, but they also need to live and spend the winter somewhere. Look for a suitable green area.

Hedgehogs are almost guaranteed to live in places where there are summer houses or the private sector, in city parks, in old sleeping areas of poorly built-up areas, where front gardens have been overgrown for decades. Often hedgehogs are in kindergartens and schools - the surrounding area, as well as the presence of last year's heaps of leaves gives them a place to winter. At the edge of the city, if it is not a scorched steppe, there are too many hedgehogs. Outside the city of all 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 did not care if they would go unnoticed or not. And also the fact that hedgehogs are more scrupulous about the time of day for reeling around the city.

When to catch a hedgehog

Hedgehogs hibernate when frosts begin, and wake up when the temperature of the day rises to 15 degrees. This means that in the middle lane you can find a hedgehog from mid-April to mid-October. But in the case of large temperature drops, the hedgehogs wake up already in March - when abnormally warm days give way to night frosts. Only they will have nothing for now.

In the first weeks after waking, hedgehogs justify the legends about their smell - they stink terribly. This is due to the fact that after winter hibernation, during which the whole hedgehog metabolism was maintained due to the breakdown of fat reserves, metabolic products for a long time are removed from the body of the animal. In June and July, hedgehogs smell not so disgusting. Gon in hedgehogs begins almost immediately after waking up, ezhat are born after six weeks. Out of the nest with the mother begin another month. And this means that in April you have a great chance to run into a flock of three or more hedgehogs, finding them after the marriage games. But in the middle of summer you can already find a grass brood in the grass.

First you have to decide what you want from a hedgehog. If you just look at him, 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 surely be interested in having as few ticks as possible on the hedgehog, and in general he himself 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 hedgehog's body hangs like a rag — if you grab it behind your back, squeezing a few needles in a bun, it will “fall out” of its needles and will not be able to curl up until you release it to the ground. The first month of such thinness after hibernation is fundamentally indistinguishable from the thinness caused by diseases or ticks. And then you can definitely say that a skinny hedgehog is sick, and a well-fed one is healthy. Well, it should be remembered that from mid-August to the end of September ticks come back again, even if not in such wild quantities as in spring.

Speaking about the time of day, it is not necessary to be categorical in that hedgehogs are exclusively nocturnal animals. It all depends on the situation - outside the city hedgehogs can go out of the nest during the day, if everything is calm around. The best time for catching hedgehogs in the city is from 9 pm to 3 nights. Or an hour after sunset. But this does not mean that returning home early in the morning, you can not stumble on a hedgehog, distracted by the rising sun.

How to catch a hedgehog

So, you still went out after 9 pm, making sure that the thermometer is about +10, which usually means that during the day the air warms up to +15. What to do? Where to go? If you do not feel an intuition to the habitats of hedgehogs, then the easiest way to find out about those is to ask breeders who walk their pets at a late hour. These people most likely already ran up on hedgehogs, and not once. So having asked a couple of dog owners, you will know exactly where the chance to run into a hedgehog is great.

Well, for those who do not have friends who own dogs, this list of locations for catching hedgehogs will be useful.

• The outskirts of your village. Provided that it is not a steppe, the height of the grass in which is not enough even to tickle a hedgehog puziko. The private sector here is also suitable.

  
  
  

• Kindergartens and schools - usually there is enough territory and bushes, so that hedgehogs will have 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 US, raccoons can get into the trash and sometimes are a scourge of households, then hedgehogs, in view of low dexterity, can only pick up something that has not flown to the trash. But if the garbage often does not reach the container, and in general the dustbin smells from afar, then be sure that hedgehogs will be there. You just need a couple of hours to watch this garbage, and you will notice a hedgehog among cats. Do you have enough spirit to take the bastard in your hands after you catch him for such a dirty business - another conversation. And if not enough, then do not despair, you can try to catch a hedgehog in one of the other places listed above.

Hedgehogs often carry food from dogs and cats from bowls. Often in the courtyards there are such lured flocks of dogs or herds of cats, which have their own bowls, in which a caring lonely grandmother pours food for the whole company, near one of the entrances of your house. So, if the food stays regularly overnight, 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 is worth it - hedgehogs, cats, dogs in this case dangle in one area, which means that if you see that your dogs are cheerful and shine with health, that their muzzle is not covered with ticks, then catch hedgehogs here is relatively safe .

If your waiting did not succeed, then arm with a flashlight more powerful, an old thick shirt or sweater, or a thick terry towel, wrapped with a hedgehog, 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 around the above places after sunset, you can meet not only a hedgehog, but also a patrol who wants to check the authenticity of your documents, alcoholics or just Gopnik, who want to check your financial situation and, perhaps, the strength of your head, and also a pack of stray dogs who want to check the quality of the pants on your ass. Alas, this is the national specificity of catching hedgehogs in urban environments.

So, you go 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 on the road or at your feet. In the light of a lantern, especially an LED light, which distorts colors, it is difficult to distinguish a hedgehog carcass against a background of grass. Therefore, the search for a hedgehog is easiest by sound. You should slowly and silently walk along a bush or thick grass, listening to the rustling. If you hear that grass or shrub rustles somewhere, and it does not look like the wind, then go quietly in that direction. If the noise stops, then stop, and stand absolutely silent for a couple of tens of seconds. You can immediately shine in that place, you watch only that the beam of a lamp did not twitch. If there is a hedgehog there, then he will freeze for a few seconds each time he hears you. But even the lantern will not help you in the thick grass - the hedgehog will simply not be visible while it is still. You should go a distance of 3-5 meters to the source of the noise and point the lantern at that place, and maybe you will see a hedgehog. But more often a cat or a person who has not shown proper moderation while drinking alcohol.

If you immediately see a hedgehog, or you see that someone cuts the grass without showing itself, then the most difficult is over. But as soon as you begin to sharply reduce the distance between yourself and the hedgehog, the hedgehog can either freeze or rush away from you. Not that they run too fast, but they usually run into bushes or into a hole in the fence. Therefore, your task is to throw a shirt / sweater / towel on him as soon as possible and press on top with your hands. Just do not press hard. Hedgehog you are unlikely to crush, but he can stab you. Well, or you can try to push him out of the bushes with your foot, if the hedgehog decided to freeze, being in the hope that you still did not notice it. Only if the grass is thick, then it will not be easy to do so, so don’t cringe and take a hedgehog through a thick layer of matter. Just make sure that this is not a mother with ezhatami. Just take a 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 her opinion, does not inspire confidence - for example, you. Ezhikhu no need to touch, because they themselves will not find a way to the nest. Instead of mother, are you going to drive them every night to feed and go home? That's the same thing.

And carry, carry a hedgehog to where he can not be dragged into his native bushes. Well, or do not put the hedgehog on the ground, and take a picture with him, without getting out of the rag, and put it where they took it. If you are still burning with the desire to touch the hedgehog for his tender belly, then bring him to the light, where the animal can be carefully considered. First of all, take a stick 2 times thicker than a match and 3 times longer, and wave it to a hedgehog under your nose, just don’t beat it on the nose. If the hedgehog did not grab it with his teeth, then it is encouraging. The fact is that hedgehogs, when you take them in your arms, rarely bite, but some can literally cling to you, even if you just carry his face past the sleeve of a shirt. And the hedgehogs bite painfully, and their grip is good. And even though they may bite to the blood infrequently, it is still better not to tempt fate - if the hedgehog is so eager to bite you, then you shouldn’t find out if it’s mad or just very upset by your actions. Release from harm's way.

So you carried the hedgehog on the asphalt / bench or on another flat surface. The first seconds of your touch to the hedgehog, it will twitch over and over again, sharply bulging needles, at this moment it is very easy to inject. You can easily determine this period by the sound - the hedgehog will puff very quickly, and in the moments when the needles bristle, you will hear a very loud exhalation. When the puff stops you can try to take. Put the hedgehog on the ground and gently poke several times in a row with the toe of the boot until it stops twitching from the touch. The next thing you should look at is ticks. To understand whether it is still possible to touch the hedgehog on is relatively simple - look under his belly. It is useless to lay it on its back - when the hedgehog is lying on its back it is always folded.

To inspect the hedgehog you have 2 options, depending on the hedgehog's fatness. The first one is suitable for hedgehogs that recently came out of hibernation - you should try to take a hedgehog in a bunch of dozens or two needles on your back and pick them up. You will immediately feel a thin hedgehog or not - a thin one will literally fall out of your skin. And while the hedgehog will hang on the folds of your own skin, you can see his belly on the subject of 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 smarter. Put the hedgehog on the ground and wait until he begins to stray away from you. Here he will expose one of his hind legs beyond the prickly cover. Gently grab the paw, and let's not remove it. Then start, holding the hedgehog's back paw on weight, push it forward so that it takes a few more steps. In one of the steps he will stick out the other paw - grab her too. Now gently lift the hedgehog by the hind legs and gently lift it off the ground. And then the hedgehog can start screaming. Not because it hurts, but because it scares. He shouts very loudly , and no video can convey how loud and shrill the hedgehog’s cry is on a quiet night. But these hedgehogs are relatively few. Usually, you should rather “pinch” the hedgehog for heels, so that he begins to show loud displeasure, so if you just look, then the chance to wake the yard with his screams is not great. If the hedgehog started screaming, then just lay it on the ground and repeat the procedure after a few seconds. Well, go ahead, look out for ticks.

If the test for ticks was satisfactory and the hedgehog did not go to the bushes from which it was removed, then congratulations - you caught a hedgehog. Use.

What to do with a hedgehog

For good, just take a picture with him as a souvenir. And you can gently put your hand under the belly of a hedgehog and hold it in your hands, namaynaya belly. Only without sudden movements - if the hedgehog starts to fold, then its face will be dangerously close to your fingers. Well, and then you can let go. Pre-fed. A bag of Wiskas, bought in the nearest convenience store, hedgehogs are very much quoted. Taking a hedgehog home is a bad idea, they are dirty, stupid (more stupid than rats), they will tear wallpaper from the walls (on the nest), they like to get stuck behind the battery / piano / under the cabinet and die there. And of course, the tramp that will haunt you at night. So the best hedgehog - hedgehog, who lives on the street.