Hedgehog?

Magenta

Hi everyone,
Well my garden is absolutely infested with snails and slugs at the moment and it's getting beyond a joke. Covering the garden with chemicals (i.e. slug pellets) to kill them isn't really ideal because I have a rabbit and he grazes on the lawn. So I'm looking for a hedgehog. My garden is about 1/2 an acre with loads of shrubbery and thick undergrowth so the hedgehog would have plenty of places to shelter and sleep, plus I've kept all sorts of animals all my life so I'm used to looking after them. I'm just wondering if anyone can give me any advice or tell me where I could get a hedgehog?

Thanks

Magenta

Rabies

Try an animal rescue centre. They often have injured hedgehogs waiting to be released again when better.

Kevin_rc_ie

i found a hedgehog in my drain and i rereleased him in my neighbours garden (i had a dog at the time). he escaped.

as far as i know, you're not allowed to adduct hedgehogs from the wild and transplant them to your own property, i don't know where i heard this thou.

hedgehogs hibernate too so don't forget that.

concerning the snails, i build little plastic troughs filled with beer which catches them. thrushes eat snails too.

Our man in Havana

Ducks will get rid of slugs & snails.

Kevin_rc_ie

would it be unfair to keep some ducks(2) in a typical dublin suburbian garden? If I just built a little pond and made some measures to keep it cat safe would this be all i need?

boneless

Hedgehogs are good climbers and all round escape artists... you cannot keep them where they don't wanna be. Have you tried beer traps? The slugs can't resist a drop of Dutch Gold and they die happy!! Just watch out for students wandering into your garden!!

doctor evil

They can swim as well!

Our man in Havana

Yeah say 2 ducks will be fine - They dont need a huge space even a half barrell with water is fine - as this is easily cleaned. You just need to feed the ducks some grains. Very inexpensive to keep.

wasted_winter

It would be easier to get your hands on two ducks than a hedgehog!

The only think about getting ducks is that you will have to really think about security - how secure is your back garden? You have to make sure they can't escape over walls, through gates or gaps in fences. Next reverse your line of thinking... you need to stop other animals getting into your garden - foxes and dogs especially. I'd recommend locking them up at night-time, even if you had built a small pen where they would be safe for the night.

I'd go a little larger than a barrel for their water requirements however - especially with two ducks (if you do go ahead with it don't just get one... they are companiable animals). You don't need a HUGE pond - just a nice enough area for them to be able to move around somewhat without whacking each other!!!

I think your a bit mad to invest in ducks to get rid of the snails. Definitely DON'T USE PELLETS!!! Especially if you have a rabbit in your garden! Beer traps work an absolute treat... they LOVE it. If you are worried about certain plants then I'd consider putting down gravel... even in small amounts... around plants. It tears at their bodies so they'll avoid the plant!

I can't think of anything else off the top of my head. If you do want to use pellets then put them into a jamjar or something that's difficult for your rabbit to get at... it also means that birds won't eat the posioned snails\slugs.

Getting a can of beer is your best bet - it'll last longer than the pellets and it'll be ten times more effective... plus it's dead cheap compared to pellets.

Good luck though... especially now summer is coming in, you want to be able to walk into the garden without the usual... crunch...

PS - Sorry for upsetting anyone's stomach!

Magenta

wasted_winter wrote:

you want to be able to walk into the garden without the usual... crunch...

Ha ha ha, believe me, I know only too well!

If I was to get ducks, I'd more than likely give them water in an inflatable swimming pool (easy to clean, cheap). I have a very big garden but I'd probably have to clip their wings because I live right next to a canal and if they escaped they'd probably end up there. There's a lot of dogs walked at that canal...

Would ducks get on OK with cats? My cats were all brought up with rabbits and won't go near my rabbit, who is much smaller than a duck.

Speaking of the rabbit, don't worry, the slug pellets are kept well away from him.

Sigma Force

Ducks sound like a great idea, there are probably a few hedgehogs already around anyway. Slugs and snails are very bad this year, I am attempting beer traps with what is left of my broccoli lol.
I'd love some ducks, they're so cute!
Mabey a hard plastic kids pool would be better though they might puncture and inflatable one and end up wizzing around the garden.
The only negative thing I have heard about ducks is that they poop in their water a lot, but with the pool you can just tip it over and give is a quick wash with a broom and move it around the garden anyway.
If you haven't clipped wings before have an experienced vet do it, otherwise it can go horribly wrong.

Just hoping the slugs here like cheap Aldi beer lol

Magenta

I've clipped wings once before. I think I'll try the Dutch Gold method!

tallus

Magenta wrote:

I've clipped wings once before. I think I'll try the Dutch Gold method!

My bro in law uses the dutch gold too, saw it with my own eyes last saturday, the tray was literally full of slugs !! excellent wat to get rid of them, I'm considering it myself, as my back garden is also full of them.

Alun

Rather perversely, slugs seem to prefer cheap beer over the expensive stuff! I tried some Stella the other day 'cos I'd run out of the cheap stuff, and they turned up their noses (do slugs have noses?) at it!

tallus

Alun wrote:

Rather perversely, slugs seem to prefer cheap beer over the expensive stuff! I tried some Stella the other day 'cos I'd run out of the cheap stuff, and they turned up their noses (do slugs have noses?) at it!

LOL!