“Staggering” hedgehogs: Running around in circles is part of the mating ritual

Attention gardeners
Why hedgehogs are currently staggering around and running around in circles

If you see a hedgehog circling another hedgehog in strange movements, you may have stumbled upon a mating ritual. Now in summer, this love game can sometimes be observed in gardens or parks in the evenings.

Have you ever seen hedgehogs walking in circular paths? During the warm summer nights we currently experience, this strange ritual can sometimes be seen in our gardens or parks.

Just like at our house a few years ago: Late one evening, two hedgehogs appeared on the terrace, and they were not at all bothered by the presence of people. One of the hedgehogs circled around the other, sometimes with slightly wobbly movements. My husband asked worriedly whether the hedgehog with the apparent balance problems might be a case for the vet. We decided to wait and not disturb the animals.

That was a good decision – because we had accidentally stumbled into the middle of a love story: The mating ritual is aptly called the “hedgehog carousel”. The male circles the female hedgehog over and over again. This can take hours, because at the beginning the female is usually not very enthusiastic, raises her spines and hisses. It also happens that he is so engrossed in his circles that she takes the opportunity to escape.

The hedgehog has to work hard to convince the female

Male hedgehogs have to put in a lot of effort so that the female will eventually flatten her spines and the two can mate. These animals, which are normally active at dusk and at night, sometimes seem to lose their sense of time during the mating season. In our garden, it has happened that two hedgehogs were still sitting in the flowerbed in the morning – probably deeply in love – when it was already daylight.

But the romance is quickly over: after mating, the male hedgehog runs off. She gives birth to the young on her own and is then a single parent.

The first little hedgehogs are being born all over Germany these days. The German Wildlife Foundation is drawing attention to this. Gardeners should be careful, because hedgehog nests could be found where there are piles of leaves and dead wood.

In such cases, you should garden carefully or leave it alone for a while. Hedgehog mothers who feel disturbed by unrest could leave the nest, warn animal welfare workers. Then the offspring, which are suckled for the first six weeks of their lives, will starve.

A closer look helps – is the hedgehog in love or does it need help?

You should also pay close attention if hedgehogs are behaving strangely. Not every “stagger” is a sign of love. Animal welfare groups point this out. The animals are exposed to many dangers in our gardens, ranging from robotic lawnmowers to poisonous substances.

However, small hedgehogs sitting alone in the grass are often not orphans, but are picked up by their mother, as the German Wildlife Foundation writes. This can even happen during the day. As a rule, you should leave them alone and wait to see what happens.

It takes five to six weeks until the hedgehogs are big enough to go about their own business. The animals reach sexual maturity after the first winter. Then they are ready for the next round on the “hedgehog carousel”.

Sources: Press release and Information for hedgehog-friendly gardens from the German Wildlife Foundation“Pro-Igel.de“, Here on Youtube you can see a hedgehog carousel in the video

Watch the video: The OWL Wildlife Association is using a recent case to draw attention to an unfortunately not uncommon but fatal problem: garden animals are often seriously injured or killed by robotic lawnmowers.