# Hedgehog repellant



## Slackey

Ok so you are probably thinking why would I want to repel hedgehogs from my garden. They are wonderful gentle creatures and are in fact good for the garden.

The problem is my garden is quite large and we back on to fields. At night when I let my dog out he finds hedgehogs. Now he does not hurt them but does seem to want to play with them. He does pick them up in his mouth and run with them, I think he thinks it is a game.

I always get the hogs from him and then check them over for any injuries (never found any damage) and then real ease them out of the garden. I even have a torch and glove in a drawer in the kitchen so I can go and retrieve the poor blighters quickly.

This is happening every night and it is all sizes of hogs he is finding. He never finds them during the day so either they are hiding well or they are coming in somehow when dark.

I want to repel them if I can for the sake of both the hogs, the dog.... Oh and my sanity.

So does anyone know of anything that will repel them? I have a large fence line and will check this weekend for gaps etc but wondered if there is anything else I can do?


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## feorag

First of all hedgehogs are nocturnal, so will be sleeping through the day and that's why he's not finding them during the day.

If your fence is solid and set into the ground then the hedgehogs are living and nesting in your garden. Is there a reason why you want to be rid of them other than letting your dog out into your garden at night?? Can you not just let the dog have the run of the garden during the day and take him out for a walk in the evening? That's what I'd do.


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## sarahc

I had an adult and babies set up home under my raised ferret run.The dogs were a menace to them and I had to stop letting them out at night as once they were hedgehog aware the excitement of night hunting accelerated.Fortunately after spending autumn and winter under there they moved on.


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## Slackey

feorag said:


> First of all hedgehogs are nocturnal, so will be sleeping through the day and that's why he's not finding them during the day.
> 
> If your fence is solid and set into the ground then the hedgehogs are living and nesting in your garden. Is there a reason why you want to be rid of them other than letting your dog out into your garden at night?? Can you not just let the dog have the run of the garden during the day and take him out for a walk in the evening? That's what I'd do.


I know Hedgehogs are nocturnal and this why he is only finding them at night. The dog has the run of the garden all day and gets walked twice a day mornings and night, however he still needs to go out later in the evening to do his business, unfortunately I have not trained him how to use the toilet:bash:

I don't think they are nesting I the garden or he would be find them or at least smell them and be alerted to the nest area during the day. I am going to check my fence line tomorrow for access points.



sarahc said:


> I had an adult and babies set up home under my raised ferret run.The dogs were a menace to them and I had to stop letting them out at night as once they were hedgehog aware the excitement of night hunting accelerated.Fortunately after spending autumn and winter under there they moved on.


I am kind of hoping that they will eventually get the hint and stop coming in, last thing I want is for one to get hurt.


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## feorag

My suggestion was that you walk him around the block last thing at night instead of letting him out in the garden?


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## Zerox Z21

Based on your layout, perhaps you can restrain him within the portion of the garden nearest the house via temporary fencing (like a stretched out puppy cage) or something?


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## Slackey

Zerox Z21 said:


> Based on your layout, perhaps you can restrain him within the portion of the garden nearest the house via temporary fencing (like a stretched out puppy cage) or something?


I am looking at sectioning a small part of the garden off for him (about 20ft x 80ft) I plan on using palisade fencing and if need be I will put a mesh along the bottom to stop the hogs getting in that part. Ii just need to lay a slabbed area of about 12' x 12' for his kennel and then make the fencing and we are off:lol2:

There has not been any for a few days now anyway, either he has lost interest or it is starting to get to cold for them.


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## feorag

Yes pretty soon they'll begin hibernating and your dog can have free run of the garden, but I'm pleased that you're going to fence off an area for him (lucky you have a garden that size) because often when they come out of hibernation they can be a bit disoriented and are easy game and then there's the resulting babies in late spring. :whistling2:


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## Slackey

feorag said:


> Yes pretty soon they'll begin hibernating and your dog can have free run of the garden, but I'm pleased that you're going to fence off an area for him (lucky you have a garden that size) because often when they come out of hibernation they can be a bit disoriented and are easy game and then there's the resulting babies in late spring. :whistling2:


It will not be sorted overnight, but it will be done before they come out of hibernation.

We are very fortunate that we have a big enough garden that we can section a good sized plot for the dog and it still leaves us a significant space.:whistling2:


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## NickBenger

Why don't you just keep the dog on a short, clip on lead and walk him around the garden for him to go to the toilet. Then you can avoid any hedgehogs.


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