Autumn 2022Turn your garden into a hedgehog haven

Hedgehogs are a quintessential part of British wildlife, but are a species in critical decline. The spiky mammal was listed as ‘vulnerable to extinction’ on the Red List for Britain’s Mammals 2020, whilst a report released earlier this year revealed their population has continued to decline since 2000.

The reasons for the decline are complex, but two of the main pressures hedgehogs face in both rural and urban areas are lack of suitable habitat and habitat fragmentation. Thankfully, there are some steps you can take to help this garden favourite.

The British Hedgehog Preservation Society and People’s Trust for Endangered Species, who together run nationwide campaign Hedgehog Street, are urging people to connect as many gardens in their area as possible.

This will allow local hedgehogs to roam between them in search of food, mates and nesting materials – a small action vital for the species’ long-term survival.

The idea is simple: connect as many gardens as possible via ‘Hedgehog Highways’ (a 13cm or CD case sized square gap under garden fences or walls).

Hedgehog Street hedgehog officer Grace Johnson said: “Hedgehogs are a much-loved native species, and helping them, particularly in urban areas, is easy and affordable.

“We want to encourage people to get creative – think about front and back gardens, as a street with five houses on could be part of a 20-garden ‘Hedgehog Street’. Tunnels could join gardens, or ramps can be placed between gardens on different levels.

“We know gardens can be havens for hedgehogs, but only if they’re connected to let hedgehogs in and out.”

For top tips on how to help hedgehogs visit www.hedgehogstreet.org

What else you can do

Leave areas of your garden wild: piles of leaves, logs or compost all make attractive nests for hedgehogs and the invertebrates they like to eat (beetles, caterpillars, worms, etc.)

Leave out foods like tinned dog or cat food and crushed cat or dog biscuits. If the hedgehog is very young - roughly apple-sized - you’ll need to soak the biscuits in water first. You can also get good quality, meaty hedgehog food from wildlife food suppliers.

Never feed hedgehogs milk or bread - milk can cause diarrhoea and bread isn’t very nutritious.

Always remove any uneaten food each day, and clean the dishes using hot, soapy water to reduce the risk of spreading disease.

Cover any holes: hedgehogs can easily fall into uncovered drains or holes.

If you have a pond, place bricks or stones at the edge, or create a slope so they can climb out.

Avoid slug pellets and pesticides as these can poison hedgehogs.

Always disturb bonfires before lighting as hedgehogs or other wildlife could be nesting or hiding inside

What to do if you disturb a hedgehog

If the hedgehog is hibernating, gently put it back into its nest, re-cover it with the nest material and leave it alone. If this isn’t possible - for example, because the nesting site has already been destroyed - then place the hedgehog in a part of the garden where it will be safe and sheltered, with as much of the original nest as possible.

If there’s not much natural shelter available, you could use a large box instead, but make sure the hedgehog will be able to get out of the box easily when it next wakes up.

If the hedgehog isn’t hibernating and has young hoglets, re-cover them with the nesting material and leave them alone. If this isn’t possible, please contact the RSPCA for more advice.