The perils of outdoor-feeding

Hi all - I have a bit of a dilemma with a rogue hedgehog!

3-4 days ago, when I was taking the pans out of one of the Happy Hutches, I noticed some bizarre-looking poop in there. I had a quick squizz at the Internet and basically became pretty convinced that it was hedgehog poop.

I cleaned the straw (and poop) out of that Happy Hutch and have continued to feed in just the one hutch, as Rudi and Little Cow don't seem to have any problems sharing the hutch (as long as they don't see the other going in!). Moreover, I realised that they were giving the 'mystery poop' hutch a wide berth, as if the interloper had 'scented' it in some way.

The last few days I've been having some lovely bonding sessions with Rudi on the back step of the house. This usually involved my sitting on the step with food (and, importantly, special cat milk and treats) near me while Rudi rubs around me, demanding strokes and love before he tucks in to his hard-earned food (dry - Burgess, wet - it depends. They seem to like variety). Anyway, last night I left the remaining food out there when I went to bed and, through my night vision scope, I saw him tucking in with gusto. Tonight, we've had the same routine. Only this time there's no Rudi, just a prickly little chap sat on our back step filling his face!! It's very cute, but it does pose a bit of an issue.

I guess the easy solution is to take all food in at night. But both Rudi (and to a lesser degree, Little Cow) are pretty nocturnal so I'd really rather not upset their routines. In England (and, I'm assuming, elsewhere), having hedgehogs around is considered a sign of a really healthy patch of land and they do wonders for the garden so I'd actually like for the prickly ones to hang around. It's just I'd rather they don't eat the cat food!! Are there ways of handling this, other than the easy solution? I've had two thoughts:

1) lift the boxes up to a decent height....but hedgehogs can climb, I guess?
2) just go with and put extra food out!

You know, this may be why Little Cow in particular seems to do all her feeding during the day!
bests

Love the table idea, thanks. No hedgehog could defy gravity!
I wish I were handy - sadly I'm all fingers and thumbs.
Let's see what I can find. And I may devise a special hog hutch too!
Btw - more cat-specific question. I'm guessing lots of people's cats do this. Rudi seems to love 'standing up' on two legs with his eyes closed when he comes in for affection - am assuming this is a good sign? He's still a little temperamental (though no surprise when you consider he's been a stray for so long). Something really spooked him a couple of days back mid-pm : one minute he was in the courtyard all loving, the next I saw him dash off startled. He didn't surface again for 4-5 hours! I was starting to get worried!

thanks for all the advice.
just had a very strange experience with Rudi. I was sat with him on my back door step, having a good old love-in. After about 15 minutes something a little worrying happened:

* he tried to bite me! I saw him open his mouth (not all the way) and make for the hand that wasn't stroking him.
* simultaneously, he clawed/ scratched my leg

Fortunately no damage done - I pulled my hand away in time and had long trousers on (although I can definitely see scratch marks on my leg) ! I'm guessing he was just playing and overstepped the mark/ was a bit rough without realising it. Any ideas?

Thanks, FeralVR. Interesting to know I'm not the first (I somehow guessed I wasn't )
When I got back from work tonight, Rudi bounded up to me in the courtyard as if nothing had happened! He got some petting from me - I just took it a bit easy and stayed standing rather than sitting on the step.
As you say, I know he feels no malice, only exuberance. I'm just guessing he's getting used to his human chum. It's at times like this that I wish he and Little Cow were friends! Indeed, I think LC may be behind this at one remove - and not her fault in any way! By this I mean I've noticed that, if Rudi and me are near the back door/in the courtyard, he gets kind of agiated if I walk towards the barns where she lives to put food in the happy hutch. This shows itself in Rudi being very vocal and cutting across my path as I walk down there - almost as if he's saying 'oh no you don't Mister - you're mine, not hers!' I've a feeling he's one of those cats who really needs to have a playmate to get some of his energy out but is temperamentally in the wrong place at the moment. Maybe, just maybe, he'll let me get him some company one day....
Anyway, I shan't hold it against him. I'm just glad he's bonded with me, even if I will have to keep a close eye on the scratch on my knee!

Many thanks, all, for the help. On the hedgehog front, I've not seen any any the past few days. I realised the answer was staring me in the face: the top of the happy hutches! Basically the roof overhangs just enough I reckon to prevent all but the more daredevil hedgehog from getting up there! No more biting/ scratching incidents either.
Sadly, though, am going to have to take Rudi to the vet tomorrow night. When he turned up tonight, one of the poor lads eyes was almost totally closed. The top lid was very puffy. I only saw him quickly this morning and thought it did look slightly strange - but nOthing like tonight. Also looks like he's got a scratch behind his ear. I'm guessing he's been in a scrap. He seems chipper enough, though. So fingers crossed that I can get him into his carrier (step 1) and that all is well with him (step 2 - the big one)
Best to all

Sadly no luck catching Rudi. Very frustrating. Poor lad's eye still looks swollen but whilst we can pet him as much as we want, the moment we tried to grab him he scooted off. The vets are clearly used to such palavers and have said that, if we get lucky (cos I ain't quitting) then they are open most of sat and Sunday. Could even call a vet in, but I'm not sure that will help. So it might have to be the trap.
Cats, eh?! If only they knew that, every day, they have the capacity to break your heart and bring you joy in equal measure.
Best to all for the weekend from a very frustrated Anglian (region of England, in case unsure!)

Hi all - thanks for the good vibes.
1/ still no luck catching Rudi. The good news is that his eye looks loads better. On Thursday/ Friday there were certain angles when it seemed 75% closed. Yesterday and today (in particular) it's almost back to normal. Am still going to get him to the vet, I promise
2/ some more Rudi background. Had some friends over last night, and one of them saw him in the garden and said 'oh that's your cat - I remember seeing him when we were driving away from your BBQ last year'. A bit of calendar checking revealed this was august 2010. So that's now at least 9 months he's been hanging around - and it means 5 months until he started meowing at me and c. 8 before petting. No wonder he's such a bugger to catch ;-)
3/ saw little cow yesterday wandering to her feeding station just outside the courtyard while Rudi was curled under a hedge at the side of the courtyard (his
favourite place these days). So having not had a chat with her for days, I opened the back door and stood on the step for a natter. Understandably Rudi
thought I was talking to him and so came up to see me while little cow
watched on about 25-30 feet away. Rather splendidly, she saw me petting him for a few seconds before he turned in her direction and she bolted. Don't think he saw her - he was too busy purring.
4/ thanks to booktigger for the info on burgess. When I got the ferals (long before the Rudi reveal) I was told they'd only had dry before in the shelter and so to be initially sparing with wet. Long story short, I ended up buying 3 x 20kg bags from the shelter (via cash and carry). There's probably about half of it left! I'll switch when it's done - any recommendations? Good news is that it's the one thing they are unfussy about: Rudi in particular seems to enjoy it over and above wet at the moment. Little cow seems to eat pretty much anything wet I give her as long as it's in gravy, not jelly (I reckon she was born ooooop north) but Rudi will often eschew even decent quality food (Sheba or Felix or la perle, I think it's called) in favour of his dry food. As long, of course, as a couple of treats are mixed into his 'roodifoodi' - an expression he now seems to know

Thanks, Feralvr. Yep, I reckon Dixie and Little Cow may be long-lost relations!

That said, just had another splendid Rudi/ LC exchange. I'm having to write a report this afternoon (and boo to that - it's gorgeous here, about 22 degrees C/ 70F) and my upstairs office looks out over the courtyard. I saw LC come for grub to her happy hutch and, once she'd had her fill, I popped to the back door to say hello. She was about 35ft away, but she let me come a few steps outside the back door to say hello.
Anyway, I was chatting to her for a couple of minutes and then heard the big lad come a-meowing. So he and I had a couple of minutes of petting whilst she watched us from under the shade of the caravan. This time Rudi definitely saw her and, though he stiffened, he didn't make to chase her. Just as importantly, she didn't scoot off either. Indeed, after watching us for a few minutes she just walked calmly away to her barn.
You know, I reckon they might have had a tiff, she's given him his black eye and he's now gained some respect for her. More (girl) power to her elbow if so! And his eye seems even better, too. So it's been a win-win day on the cat front: now if only I could summon the enthusiasm to write this report....

Thanks for the info and advice

Food: unless they are famished, they don't seem to go for tins. Indeed, at the moment neither has much of a hankering for any wet stuff. I shared a pouch between them first thing this morning along with plenty of dry food, came back this lunchtime and found the wet hadn't been touched but that the dry had a big dent in it. 'Twas the except opposite over the winter

Rudi: well, his eye's fine. But as I was petting him this lunchtime I noticed quite a painful-looking cut/ tear on top of his head. I shall watch him (and the cut) very closely for signs of infection. Given that he' loves being petted, I'd have thought that, if antiseptics of any kind are appropriate (do let me know!!) that I can apply these while I'm tending to him.

I suspect that we have an overnight interloper who is having fisticuffs with Rudi. LC runs from him and so, while she might have bopped him once, I can't see it being an ongoing thing. The other possibility is a fox - but I've been told that foxes tend to shy away from cats as they have an in-built sense of 'ooh, that thing has short claws'. Time to spend an evening outside with the night vision lens.....

bests to all