Hedgehogs in the Netherlands are having a hard time. To help them find a place for the winter, I put together a wooden house based on a design by Natuurmonumenten. Of course, a small camera had to be installed. I started with an old video doorbell, but then a livefeed to a website was needed...Anyway, now we have two cameras.
This is not a finished project. Below you'll find a few pictures and movie clips. The live stream hopefully keeps running...For a next update, I'd like to have a notification service that pushes a message when we bring them some food.
Livestream
Construction
The construction is basically a wooden box. For proper size, I followed the dimensions of the Hedgehog house provided by Natuurmonumenten.
The entrance is 125 mm PVC pipe. I also added a sloping 50 mm pipe on the side that is attached to a plastic cup for feeding. The first night it rained quite hard and the next morning the hay was damp. The roof and sides are now covered with water proof EPDM.
The level of our garden is a bit higher than the public space next to it. I needed to make a little on-ramp to connect to the house. We have a 70 cm wide brush growing next to the fence with plenty of leaves. Hedgehogs use this as a quite passage along our garden. The ramp almost naturally leads them into the shelter.
First inhabitants
The first inhabitants of the hedgehog house were a few mice. They were quickly evicted by hedgehogs.
I think it is amazing that within 5 hours the first big guy came to have a look. He enjoyed the catfood.
After a few days we realized that it would be fun to share some of the clips with others. Unfortunately, the video doorbell seemed pretty much unhackable (thanks for the effort, Geordy!). V2 has an IP camera with 5 Mp. Of course, the doorbell got reused. I'll occasionally have to upload some fun clips.
The next evening this happened...
...and a few minutes later this feisty fellow was crawling around. I didnt have a banana for scale, but the pipe that he is crawling on is 50 mm PVC pipe.
So now we have proper hedgehog food and it seems they found a new place to stay. Mum is gathering leaves and twigs.
The little one is helping as well.
They stay inside all day and occasionally leave during the night. We feed them twice a day. The little one needs to fatten up quickly to survive the winter . I'm not sure how large a 600 gram hedgehog is, but a little extra fat won't hurt.
Ocasionally Mum goes for a stroll and to stretch.
They have curious neighbours, but the entrance is too small. Even if it wasn't, I doubt they would let them in...
Update: it is not one feisty fellow...there are three.
Update 2: it is not three feisty fellows...there are four.