Hedgehog Homes
It's
a sad but true fact that another great British favourite - the Hedgehog
- is now considered endangered. Despite their rather prickly nature,
these nocturnal animals are a fantastic natural resource, eating a range
of garden pests including that all-time number 1 on the gardener's hate
list, the slug. By welcoming these natural pest controllers into your
garden you are not helping on of our most popular native British mammals;
you're helping to make sure that your lettuces are still there in the
morning.
A snug place to hibernate and breed
As most people know, hedgehogs hibernate throughout the cold winter months, and our hedgehog homes are designed to be a perfect place for them to do it. Superbly adapted for our climate, the trick hedgehogs perform is little short of miraculuous: their heartbeats slow from 190 beats a minute to barely 20, and their core body temperature plummets from 35C to just 10C - either of which would kill a person very quickly. Yet a hibernating hedgehog needs nothing more from humans to achieve this amazing feat than peace and quiet. You should never disturb a box with a hibernating hedgehog in it - one reason why a homes with a camera is so useful!
When hibernation is over, hedgehogs return to a fully active life. Because Hedgehogs are nocturnal (active by night), our infrared night-vision cameras are the ideal way to see them.
From April to September, a young hedgehog's thoughts turn to love, and the nesting seasons starts. Our boxes are ideal nests, and it may be that you will see the female take up residence during these months, to give birth to a litter of 4 or 5 babies. (Baby hedgehogs are called - quite delightfully, we think - "Urchins"). Again, our cameras provide you with a glimpse of this secret world without ever disturbing the nest - female hedgehogs will abandon and even eat their young if disturbed or distressed.
Our hedgehog homes (shown right with the roof off) are carefully designed
to be as hedgehog-friendly as possible. The whole floor of the box is
raised off the ground to prevent damp and keep the nest warm. The entrance
is reached by a sloping tunnel, and there is a second wall inside the
box with the entrance on the other side of the box to the tunnel. This
means that any animal wanting to enter must zig-zag its way into the
box, which is the recommended way to deter cats, which are a considerable
threat to young hedgehogs. The main box has a sloping roof to help rain
run off, and ventilation holes inthe back.
Our hedgehog homes are made from 9mm thick exterior plywood (sourced, of course, from FSC-certified sustainable woodlands) and measure a whopping 32cm x 62cm (approx), including the tunnel. We normally supply them unpainted but can paint them with an environmentally-friendly woodstain for an extra £5.
Camera options for hedgehog homes
We offer three basic choices of camera for our hedgepig boxes:
- USB cameras - These plug into the USB port of any PC. The camera comes with a 30 foot (10 metre) cable as standard and we can extend this up to 75 feet if you choose our extended cable option at the time you place order (note: we cannot add it afterwards because we seal all the joints to keep them weatherproof). The cable carries both the video picture and the power.
- Wireless Cameras that plug into your TV/ Video - These use wireless technology to beam the video picture back to your TV or DVR/VCR, so you can watch and/or record the action in the box from your living room. Note, however, that the wireless cameras do eat batteries, so we have supplied a mains adaptor to provide power to the camera.We also include a 10 metre power connecting lead and a weatherproof connection box, allowing you to house the battery or connect to the mains adaptor.
- Wired Cameras that plug into your TV/ Video - These bring the video signal along cables to your TV or VCR/DVR. The cable carries both the video picture and the power.
- Want to know more? See our guide to our cameras or read our FAQ pages
| Hedgehog home with 1.3 Megapixel* USB camera Comes with 10 metre (30 foot) cable as standard |
£79 |
|
Built to order |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stained with weatherproof green woodstain | £5 |
|
Built to order |
| Up to 75foot (25Metre) cable extender for USB camera | £30 |
|
Built to order |
| Hedgehog homewith wireless TV camera | £99 |
|
Built to order |
| Power cable extender for wireless TV camera | £12 |
|
Built to order |
| Hedgehog home with wired TV camera Comes with 10 metre (30 foot) cable as standard |
£69 |
|
Built to order |
All prices include VAT but exclude post and packaging
which will be added to your order at checkout before you complete your
purchase.
All stock levels are approximate and subject to change. If delivery
time is crucual please email us first.