Have you ever heard of a hedgehoglet orphangarten?

  • Thread starter Thread starter arildno
  • Start date Start date
AI Thread Summary
The discussion centers on the decline of hedgehog populations due to threats such as cars and badgers. A woman is highlighted for her efforts in rescuing orphaned hedgehoglets and nursing them through winter before relocating them to safer areas. The conversation shifts to porcupines, noting that while they face threats from fishers—members of the weasel family—cars are a significant cause of their mortality as well. Participants clarify that fishers are not fishermen but rather a type of marten, and they discuss the presence of various marten species in Norway, emphasizing the commonality of these animals in northern climates. The dialogue reflects a shared concern for wildlife conservation and the impact of human activity on animal populations.
arildno
Science Advisor
Homework Helper
Gold Member
Dearly Missed
Messages
10,119
Reaction score
138
Where I grew up, there used to be quite a few hedgehogs.
Unfortunately, they have a deplorable tendency to curl up in a ball as a defensive mechanism, even against approaching cars..
Badgers are also a prroblem for the hedgehogs.

It has been years since I saw a live one.

This woman is doing something about it:
She receives orphaned hedgehoglets (??), and nurse them through the winter months before they are relocated to safer places:
http://www.aftenposten.no/nyheter/iriks/article4138210.ece
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Physics news on Phys.org
Awww, so cute. So nice to hear of good things. :smile:
 
Very cute little critters! Our porcupines are a lot more spiny. Dogs are no real threat to them, but fishers are very intelligent, strong, and fast, and can kill and eat them with impunity. I think that apart from fishers (whose populations might be suffering due to human development) cars are probably responsible for the death of more porcupines than natural causes.
 
Eeh, "fishers"??

Is that the same as fishermen?
 
arildno said:
Eeh, "fishers"??

Is that the same as fishermen?
No, fishers are members of the weasel family, just a bit lower on the predator chain than wolverines but no less effective.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fisher_(animal )
 
Last edited by a moderator:
turbo-1 said:
No, fishers are members of the weasel family, just a bit lower on the predator chain than wolverines but no less effective.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fisher_(animal )
Oh, so it is a marten type of animal?

We've got one of those here in Norway; I think it is rather rare.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
arildno said:
Oh, so it is a marten type of animal?

We've got one of those here in Norway; I think it is rather rare.
That family is not rare here. If you are quiet and patient, you will see weasels, minks, martens, and fishers in the woods. I have not seen a fisher from my back deck, but I have seen the others from there.
 
My father would have killed me for spouting such nonsense I'm guilty of (he was a biologist).
We have several marten types here in Norway; the pine marten I had in mind, but also stoat, least weasel, otter, mink and polecats.

Several of these are quite common.
 
arildno said:
My father would have killed me for spouting such nonsense I'm guilty of (he was a biologist).
We have several marten types here in Norway; the pine marten I had in mind, but also stoat, least weasel, otter, mink and polecats.

Several of these are quite common.
OK, I figured maybe you were a city-dweller and had little experience in the outdoors. Any northern climate with boreal forests should be home to many of these critters.
 
  • #10
turbo-1 said:
OK, I figured maybe you were a city-dweller and had little experience in the outdoors. Any northern climate with boreal forests should be home to many of these critters.
Not really. Have been a lot out-of-doors, 70% of Oslo is actually public woodlands.
I just forgot those animals were martens, too, not just the pine marten..
 

Hot Threads

Recent Insights

Back
Top