October 2019: Hedgehog [Erinaceus europaeus] (Igel): One evening when I went to the compost I noticed a cat that was hissing. When I looked for the reason I saw these two hedgehogs! It was hard to say whether it was a kind of dance (but their mating season is rather in late spring) or territorial behaviour. Anyhow, neither of them run away while for several times one of them put its snout under the other's belly and tried to overturn the other one. It sometimes succeeded but the other one immediately turned back and run around surprisingly quickly. Anyway, I'm happy that we still have such animals in our garden, that they still survive. They have to feed to survive winter; even if it's mild they will hardly find any food in winter. Interestingly the youngs are born in autumn, so they need a den to get through the winter. I wonder whether the bigger one on the right was a pregnant female. Perhaps we will know next spring!
