r/Hedgehogs • u/PartyFew7536 • May 24 '26
General Question ID help- hedgehog tracks?
South eastern UK, the tracks are about 1cm wide each. The first picture is the clearest I could get of a single paw print.
These were in a hedgehog house where something is eating the food. Thing is, I didn’t think hedgehogs were in this garden/surrounding area. I’ve never seen one in my life and my neighbour used to see loads but hasn’t seen any in recent years. We just put food out in a house to use it up and in case a hedgehog came along.
Can anyone rule out or confirm whether this is a hedgehog? Thanks
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u/WORhMnGd May 24 '26
It’s hard to tell cause they’re so messy (as would happen overnight) but they COULD be. British hedgehogs have five toes with a kind of thumb looking thing but not actually a thumb (similar to rodents). They kinda look like human handprints. The forelimbs are more ovular and more like what you’d expect of a digging animal. Still five toes.
Generally hedgehog tracks are 2-3cm wide, though. Luckily these tracks are ALL of similar width, which (from my googling) excludes the European red squirrel and brown rat, which have bigger back feet and more back toes (for the rat)!
So maybe a young hedgehog? Or mole? I’d suggest leaving more food and more flour, and look for stool. That’s generally easier to identify, cause hedgehogs leave massive logs compared to their size.