It’s Hedgehog Awareness Week, so we thought it would be a good time to highlight the problems hedgehogs face and how you can help them, especially as we are spending more time in our gardens at the moment.
There are many simple things we can all do to help hedgehogs:
- Create a log pile that will offer shelter and food.
- Cover drains or deep holes.
- Avoid using pesticides and slug pellets in your garden, not only can these harm hedgehogs but also damage their food chain. Use organic methods instead.
- Make sure hedgehogs have easy access to your garden. Ensure boundary fences or walls have a 13cm x 13cm gap in the bottom to allow hedgehogs to pass through.
- Keep a corner of your garden wild to offer shelter, protection and natural food for hedgehogs and other wildlife.
- Encourage hedgehogs into your garden, but you should never just move one in from another area, as it may well have a nest of dependent young that you would be condemning to death.
- Provide a shallow dish of fresh water for all wildlife, and food such as hedgehog food, meaty cat or dog food or cat biscuits for hedgehogs, especially during long dry spells.
- Make or buy a hedgehog home (see plans), this offers a hibernation site safe from predators in the winter. It may also be used as a nesting box for a mother and her hoglets in the warmer months.
- Check areas thoroughly for hedgehogs and other wildlife before strimming or mowing.
- Keep pea netting 22-30cms (9 – 12”) off the ground so hedgehogs can pass under
and plants will grow to the netting. - Dispose of litter responsibly. Every year hedgehogs are injured by litter and starve to death by getting trapped in discarded rubbish.
- Bonfires offer a tempting home for a hedgehog. Ideally collected materials should be re-sited just before the fire is to be lit, if this is not possible, the base should be lifted up with poles or broom handles (not a fork!) and a torch shone in to look for any wildlife or pets in need of rescue before lighting.
- Hedgehogs are good swimmers but can become trapped in ponds or pools with
sheer sides. Keep water levels topped up, provide a gently sloping edge if possible or place half submerged rocks in the water as an escape for them. - Finally, take care on the roads, hedgehogs are nocturnal so are often seen out at
night. A hedgehog’s natural defence mechanism is to roll into a ball – this is no
match for a motor vehicle.
British Hedgehog Preservation Society Chief Executive, Fay Vass, saidÂ
“Our gardens take up such a lot of habitat, and by getting together with neighbours to ensure hedgehogs have access points and hedgehog friendly features in the garden, we can open up a really useful amount of habitat for them. You could become a Hedgehog Champion for your area at Hedgehog Street – a project run by BHPS and our partners People’s Trust for Endangered Species. Join 70,000 Champions by signing up at www.hedgehogstreet.org – there’s even a Hedgehog Street app you can download from The App Store or Google Play!”
