How to easily and quickly identify if a hedgehog is a boy or a girl | Hedgehog's Hollow

Welcome to Hedgehog's Hollow : the channel for people passionate about hedgehogs
For many of us welcoming hedgehogs to our gardens, the first thing we want to know is whether it's a male or a female, and knowing how to identify the sex of a hedgehog is one of the first things people might want to learn. So in this video I look at the ways of being able to tell if your visitor is a boy, or a girl.
But beyond their gender, being able to identify individual hedgehogs that visit out gardens is really important, to get a better understanding of the size of the local population. This helps organisations like national hedgehog charities and conservation groups be able to get data about the national hedgehog population,
When hedgehogs first started visiting my garden, I didn't know how to tell them apart, but over time and from many thousands of video clips, I have understood how different characteristics of hedgehogs do allow us to identify individuals, and without needing to resort to painting them in any way.
Observing without interference is hugely important to me, and I would strongly encourage you to also keep your distance when observing. But even then, it is a relatively simple thing to be able to tell individuals from one another.
Follow this link to see my recommended kit options for recording hedgehogs in your garden:
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[@HedgehogsHollow]

How do you identify your different hedgehog visitors from one another? Have you got a method that I've not mentioned here? And what's the highest number of hedgehogs you've seen in your garden?

[@PandoraFoxxBurlesque]

In the last month as we've been feeding them, they're coming in droves! There's 4 munching away at the minute, 1 who's just left and gone through to the allotments, but another popped out of the bushes just as he left! So five in total tonight 😍

[@fitzpatrickken]

We know of two hedgehogs in our garden but don't know if they are males or females yet. This was a great video thanks & I have subscribed!

[@thebluerose88]

Currently have three. Definitely two males and a female appeared on camera last night! At least I’m 90% sure it’s female. They’re so adorable! One is called Itchy, he’s kind of more rugged looking in both face and teeth, he’s also the main head butter! Scratchy has a rounder head, he doesn’t mind sharing food with Itchy and doesn’t ever seem to be the aggressor. The female has a longer forehead, I have yet to name her as she only appeared last night!

[@Frostie3672]

Had two hogs visit last night, one male, one female & I believe they're two of my regulars who I haven't seen for a few weeks, so if I'm right then it's awesome to see them back.

[@HedgehogsHollow]

I know they're wild and they do very much what they want to do - but it's always so heart warming when they choose to visit your garden and continue to return on a regular basis.

[@christinearmstrong2150]

Great video thank you. I was concerned about the white mark on one hog thanks for your explanation. Also I thought I had one hog until a second hog bumped him or her out of the feeding station! Happy days to have hedgehogs visiting

[@HedgehogsHollow]

It's a thrill to see what you thought was 1 hog actually turn out to be 2 (or more...!) I'm glad he video was helpful and answered your questions.

[@christinemontague1134]

Hi Mike, how privileged are we to have these creatures visit out gardens. You may have already covered this : Why do some hogs have a shorter/thinner ‘skirt’ than others? My latest visitor seems to have such long legs I feel like knitting him / her some long socks! Also, I had a rat visiting the feeding station a few months ago so I stopped putting food out to deter it. Now I have a hog looking in there for food and ratty too. Shall I go ahead and put food in there and feed them both, hoping Ratty doesn’t have a family or bring it’s mates. There is no way I will trap and kill anything! Many thanks Christine

[@HedgehogsHollow]

Hi Christine, thank you for taking the time to comment. I am not entirely sure what might give one hog a longer 'skirt' than another. It may be as simple as just different individuals and their genes. I know that the two visiting now are different and have different "hairstyles". I think also that the length of the legs might also be relative - hedgehogs do have extraordinary legs - and they are quite long. But I particularly noticed when Walter was smaller that the length of his legs was much more obvious. He is now an enormous hedgehog to be honest, and he doesn't seem to walk with his legs as long and extended as he used to - but no doubt they are actually longer now. And he appears to have grown himself a really lovely skirt and furry mane around his face - so I think it may be individuals. As far as your ratty friend, I believe that rats do not enjoy going in to open areas and much prefer secluded, hidden areas. SO I have seen elsewhere the suggestion of putting the feeding station in an open area - the hedgehogs don't mind - I've had hedgehogs each from bowls in the middle of the patio. But rats are much less likely to cross open, exposed places - like lawns, or patios, and much prefer under the shrubs or such places. So perhaps try moving he feeding station as an experiment.

[@wendymills2696]

We thought we had one visiting, but since Friday we've had 2! I'm so chuffed, I have a plastic storage box with cut out entry & water & dried cat treats in for them. I just need to get a comfy house for them to hibernate now❤

[@heatherwycherley2954]

Thanks this was helpful - it wasn't until the camera picked up two last year that I realised we had more that one! Ours have just re-appeared after hibernation. On the dot 1st March !

[@HedgehogsHollow]

Excellent - yes, it does seem like all the hedgehogs are just about out of hibernation and becoming more active. I hope you get more beyond even two visiting your garden this year

[@JustParz]

Great video! Thank you for explaining how to identify males and females. It was very helpful ❤

[@houseofharmony7307]

Another very informative video. I know hedgehogs visit my garden and I've just purchased a special outside camera to help identify and monitor them.

[@HedgehogsHollow]

Brilliant - I am sure you will get hours of enjoyment from your camera and the recordings of your visitors. And thank you for your comment and kind words.

[@talltreesnaturereserve]

Thanks for this informative video, I have a few hedgehogs that visit me and I watch them ( and put them on my KZbin channel ) on an IR camera but I didn't know it was possible to tell one from another, now you've pointed out how I'll scrutinize them more closely and hopefully get more idea of how many I've got - I've also just subscribed to your channel 👍

[@pit_stop77]

Thank you, you've helped me identify my visitor, she's a female with her juvenile ❤️

[@Jo-yn7lj]

I have two beautiful hedgehogs coming to my garden every night. I feed them dry kitten food and a few cali worms. I have set up a wildlife camera so never have interaction with them. Its taken 12 years to attract them, my garden is safe for them I don't use any chemicals. We rarely cut the grass, we only have a small patch but leave it to grow long for other wildlife.

[@nickkirton9579]

A very well presented video and answered a couple of questions I had, thank you.

[@HedgehogsHollow]

You are very welcome, Nick, I am always happy when I can help and especially answer questions. I am pleased you enjoyed it

[@HelenaMikas]

Thanks Mike. Great presentation with a lot of important information ..👍Enjoyed and will share.

[@HedgehogsHollow]

THank you, helena, I am glad you enjoyed it - and thank you for taking the time to share it further, that is very kind

[@HelenaMikas]

@@HedgehogsHollow we need to save the hedgehogs so doing one's bit is everything.:)

[@ancientruby7116]

Great information yet the music was somewhat annoying.. but thank you. May i ask how rats & Hedgehogs get along for i live in a rural home and often rats are about therefore difficult to leave food out.. yet we do put it in an open space & the one & first Hedgehog we have eats the food. We gave it Chappie dog food yet many are now saying no to dog food, is there a nicer food for them? Today we made a nice home for him/her too. Thank you.

[@stevieyorkie6520]

Hi Mike. Another super video. The information relating to the impact of the infra-red from cameras is really useful. It's reassured me that what I sometimes thought was paint was in fact probably the patterns created by the infra-red from the camera. I have exactly the same camera as you.

[@HedgehogsHollow]

Hi Stevie, When I first saw the patches on the video footage, I was convinced my hedgehog visitors had some kind of dramatic skin disease! But I realised that, having seen them out on summer evenings when it was light and that the same hedgehog looked absolutely normal and fine, that the patches I saw were simply through the infra-red. What is interesting is after hibernation, the patches change as the spines change - so I have to learn who my visitors are all over again. I am glad that you are reassured though

[@stevieyorkie6520]

@@HedgehogsHollow Good point Mike, and just another reason why hedgehogs are so charismatic. I actually used one of the patterns to help name an individual; so the hedgehog with a white Z pattern created by the camera became Zorro! After hibernation he may well not be Zorro any more!!

[@andymurph3394]

Very helpful video. I start off with 1 hedgehog last August. Now they are 4 some night There always 2 together. I notice one was a very light brown the other was very dark I have also seen them fight twice . I don't know why They are such a joy to watch 🦔

[@paulinephillips8305]

Thank you so much! I hadn't even thought we'd be able to identify individuals. We have-we think!-a few visiting, we mostly notice size difference, and one had a white patch, but now we know what to look for. We recently found out that we shouldn't be feeding mealworms, so we are transitioning to proper hedgehog food (hoping our dog won't eat it 🙄). You have no doubt mentioned not giving them mealworms exclusively in another video, but I just thought it might be good to remind people, as we had no idea they could be bad for them. Thanks for all you do.

[@HedgehogsHollow]

I hope you manage to identify many different individuals visiting your garden! Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment and for raising the point about mealworms - yes, I have mentioned it in several other videos, but it is always worth mentioning again and again!

[@staffiemama]

Great video.

[@trevorbrown482]

Hi Mike,thanks for another informative video, we have had 3 hedgehogs visit our garden, but one is back every night and after watching this video on how to identify individuals we have named her Rainbow due to the white rainbow shape on her rear end under night vision 😊👍

[@HedgehogsHollow]

That is awesome! Once you know what to look for, it is amazing how identifying individuals does become easier - and then it's so rewarding to see how those same individuals return to live in your garden.

[@Beorn.]

Cutting a hole in my back fence was the best thing I did. I now get lots of different animals visiting every night.

[@philw1550]

Very informative, thank you :)

[@HedgehogsHollow]

You are welcome, Phil, I am very happy that you enjoyed it

[@VickiBee]

Hedgehog, in German, is 'der Igel.' There's a song we sing when we're kids called Die Katze tanzt Allein

[@unicornwings1]

Very informative thank you.I have a very large garden with numerous areas with mature pampas grass and think at least two of the pampas are used to nest because i have spotted Hedgehogs around them and also they do offer a lot of coverage.Also noticed a small Hoglet yesterday at 4pm close to the pampas grass and when i went for a closer look it headed straight for the cover of the grass.26/09/21.I thought it was late for babies but is it true that there are Autumn babies?

[@HedgehogsHollow]

I don't know scientifically if it's a "thing" or not, but yes, I have had a female in my own garden give birth very late to hoglets. I think milder weather through August might mean that September babies are more common.

[@patedwards4623]

I have a hedgehog in my garden and he comes to feed in an upturned basket every night between 8.50 and 9.10 regularly I feed him or her cat food and hedgehog pellets I shine a torch on him don't know if that's a good idea

[@HedgehogsHollow]

Provided you don't seem to be causing the hedgehog any stress or distress. I find my hedgehogs by torch light quite often, though I also use my hand to obscure the light in such a way that it's not so bright. They tend to scuttle away anyway if I am being too nosey.

[@prestons3400]

Great videos

[@HedgehogsHollow]

Thank you, I am glad you like them!

[@Schnuz]

Nice video, I have a lot of game camera footage of hedgehogs but don't really have the time to watch the clips regularly enough to see how many are visiting our garden. We have at least two as I've recorded a few hedgehog "fights" and have a playlist of hedgehogs on my channel for ease of access. I know where you are coming from when you say you should not interfere but I have previously and will again if I find an underweight hedgehog around September/ October. I feel it's better to temporarily relieve them of there freedom and feed them up over winter rather than let them die in hibernation. I used to try to take them to hedgehog sanctuaries but at that time of year they are all full, not sure if that is a good or bad thing? I work on the principle that if a hedgehog is out and about when I'm walking the dogs then it is already in trouble and needs the most help it can get. It would help if I could have had some advice from the so called sanctuaries but they are not willing to divulge information, while also not willing to take a hedgehog in as being full. Most of them are do good jerks more interested on patting themselves on the back rather than helping the situation. Stay safe and well, SIR, cheers, Schnuz.

[@puggzymalone5824]

The most I've seen at the same time is 3! I put their food in a hedgehog house with a cat proof tunnel otherwise the cats would just eat the food! So sometimes I sneak a picture of inside the house and when I went to look at it I saw 3 different hogs all in the house at the same time and they were all different sizes. Do you think it could have been a family? Do the parents stay together?

[@HedgehogsHollow]

That's brilliant to have 3. No, hedgehogs don't form family units. Fathers do not participate in rearing hoglets and mothers will leave the hoglets while they are still relatively young to fend for themselves. You may find hedgehogs will occasionally share the same house, but this is more often than not convenience or circumstance rather than any kind of social bonding.

[@Dale555]

Love your videos

[@HedgehogsHollow]

Thank you very much, I am pleased that you do

[@msjithy]

Thank you so much for this informative video! I have 2 Hedgehogs regularly visiting my garden and they seem to be a couple. The female eats more than the male. How can i tell if she is pregnant? Her behind near tail is little swollen. Or is that normal? I hope there is a video to identify pregnancy in Hedgehogs.

[@HedgehogsHollow]

I do not think there are any visible indicators of pregnancy, unfortunately. I definitely haven't seen any indicators on the hedgehogs that have subsequently given birth in my garden, so I may be missing something obvious, but there's nothing I've seen to indicate pregnancy

[@adventcliff2040]

Hello. I feed hedgehog or hedgehogs every night and watch and record them. Tonight I will try and look to see if i've got one or more coming to garden.

[@HedgehogsHollow]

I hope you do get more coming to visit. Feeding them is a great way to encourage more - and they do remember where your garden is - it almost becomes a point on their nightly excursions.

[@dawnmartin5461]

I have a hedgehog living in my garden but not in a safe place I have brought it a house I’m worried that as the weather gets bad the place it’s living now will become even more unsafe what should I do to make sure the hedgehog does not come to harm

[@bighoggeh7974]

Thanks for the informative video. We were never sure but Big Hoggeh appears to be a female. Here's hoping for hoglets

[@HedgehogsHollow]

I hope so too!

[@movewithdonna]

we have a very large hedgehog appear in our hedgehog house, I'm unsure if it's a she and may be pregnant. seems to be awake in the day and eating alot at the moment, any tips? and should I seek help if lethargic in the day and sleeping in the tunnel of the house? thanks

[@moyascott3376]

What are you feeding your hogs on?

[@HedgehogsHollow]

I use dry cat food as I have two cats and hence a supply of cat food always in the house. The biscuits are small and though not kitten biscuits the hedgehogs appear to enjoy the supply of food that they get.

[@moyascott3376]

Im having difficulty with my camera, on night it takes great video, the next night its got hardly nothing at all.

[@monikabrukner2219]

Do hedgehogs need company or are they happy alone ?

[@julieauckland7365]

I love these creatures, been feeding them hedghog food and water, and bananas, they love 🍌, nothing else, got one nesting now in my hedgehog house bless, plz people don't give them milk, x

[@1busybeekeeper]

I have been blessed with one or two perhaps three, non the less I enjoy these visitations, but they eating me out of house and home can you advise please

[@HedgehogsHollow]

They can just eat for days, can't they! Remember though, the food we leave out is a supplement, and though you are obviously helping them by leaving out, you don't need to be driven by their behaviour to leave out more. Until Winter really sets in and natural food sources dwindle, feel free to limit the food you leave out. Then you can better support them in the more needy times during winter before they hibernate. Right now smaller hogs may also be doing all they can to bulk up for hibernation - but there are still sufficient natural sources of food that you don't have to feel guilty to reduce the amount you leave out.

[@markhodgson2348]

What can be done to increase the population? I have two

[@claireparr4489]

Thank you. This episode was so helpful. I was beginning to think my hedgehog might be a boy but now I'm sure she's a girl, , which is good as I named her Eileen in the Autumn! 😂 I think I still have 2 and that one may be hibernating in the hedgehog house, but Eileen has been active throughout the winter, coming out every night into the feeding station for food. Do you think it's possible that the hedgehog house is being shared by 2 hedgehogs? Thank you.

[@HedgehogsHollow]

Hello Claire, I am so pleased you enjoyed the video. Yes, though the literature and science tells us that hedgehogs do prefer to be on their own, it is not uncommon for them to share houses. My current two started out in November / December sharing one house, though Walter's restlessness eventually meant that Ollie relocated. It might be more common for hedgehogs to share accommodation outside of hibernation time, it isn't that unusual for them to share, so it's entirely possible Eileen has a companion in the house.

[@claireparr4489]

@@HedgehogsHollow That's great thank you Mike. Hopefully we'll find out soon 🤞

[@lornasharman]

Interesting, I think I have a female in my hog box but unsure, trail camera catches him or her every night, I'm hoping it's female. Thank you.

[@markhodgson2348]

I've installed a CCTV system originally for the birds and them a few months ago I discovered I had a hedgehog "chestnut" and then I had another arrive smaller I hope its a female and male

[@jeanhooson2933]

How much would I expect to pay for a wild life camera, Hi sorry it’s Jean have had a hedgehog coming into the garden for over a week now but last night I went to see where my 3 year old cat was as he was a rescue cat and I don’t trust him and worry would he try to harm the hedgehog so because he was a rescue he wants to be out in the evening , that’s a worry and not getting much sleep as keep going to check if the hedgehog around . But last night I was sure the one that was going up an down at the side of the house looked a lighter colour and smaller than the one I’ve been seeing , just what you have said I may be wrong as view from a distance . But if could afford a camera , I would know if more than one but not sure if I could set it up as I’m not to good with internet if it has to be fixed into my iPad in some way . Haven’t ever had interest in computers ect and find it very confusing not just because of my age I have never had any interest in it but my son and family will be able to visit in August . So if could get a camera he may be able to show me how to use it and set it up , if you could give me an address where to contact for a wildlife camera would av to get a phone number to purchase over the phone the only way I can do it other than Amazon as they set me up with that a few year ago and can use that anyway if you could give me advice on camera would be very grateful for your help thanks very much Jean

[@HedgehogsHollow]

Hello Jean, I know you also found my video about cameras - and hopefully that is helpful and that soon you will have a camera to reveal what's hapening in your garden and how many visitors you have

[@AlphaHampter]

Sometimes wondering what sex have the hog, but they doesn't lift their leg, so can't see their private parts. In this cases we can tell their sex only if they interracting with other hog, male and female behavior differently. Can you make such video too? Will be very interesting to watch :)

[@HedgehogsHollow]

Hi Meg, yes it can be really frustrating when the hedgehog doesn't line up with the camera and show you all the details you are wanting to see. How do your individuals behave differently if they are males or females? I've had individual hedgehogs have particular traits, but equally I've had fairly similar behaviour amongst males and females - even a bossy young female hedgehog that pushed her brother all around the garden.

[@AlphaHampter]

@@HedgehogsHollow Well it mostly can be seen when you have both male and female on one spot. Even if a male only interested in food female will make sounds to scare him away. Only then you can tell who's who :)

[@kiwicam6419]

There's plenty of chogs in New Zealand you can take back. Very destructive to our vulnerable ground nesting birds and no doubt some other vulnerable critters.

[@monicaaron9941]

🤭🤭🤭☺️ 😂😂

[@mendozabensouzan744]

The music is annoying amigo

[@Rajonas007]

That's so horrible, why would anyone use paint on headhogs. So inhumane

[@lynngertrudeclark6531]

Thank