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How can I help hedgehogs?
The hedgehog population is facing crisis. Loss of habitat, increased predator numbers and the motor vehicle are responsible for a sharp decline in population in recent years.
As householders, we’re also partly to blame, as more and more of us put fences and walls up to mark our territories and establish boundaries. It’s a shame to see these popular, prickly snufflers suffering, as apart from being cute they do their bit to help us by eating pests in our garden like slugs and snails. Since they earn their keep like this, it’s good to know we can do our bit to help them out.
The British Hedgehog Society has given some great advice on what we can do to encourage hedgehogs. They raise awareness every May by running Hedgehog Awareness Week, but you can do your bit all year round by following the tips below.
What Can I Do?
Create a Hedgehog Highway
A good place to start is by ensuring you leave hedgehog-sized gaps in your fences (or under gates) to enable the ‘hogs to roam from garden to garden. This will make their search for food easier and reduce the risk of wandering onto the road in search of sustenance. A hole the size of a CD, or around 13cm in diameter, is recommended.
Keep Them Hydrated
Leave a bowl of water out but put small rocks in the bowl to prevent the water evaporating quickly. Dehydration in hedgehogs was a leading cause of death in the summer of 2018. If you wanted to go the extra mile and leave some food out, dog or cat food is a good choice, but make sure to place under something low so the clearance isn’t large enough to encourage other unwanted visitors to the garden!
Be Careful Moving any Stacks or Mounds in your Garden
These special, spiny spectres of the night will often take shelter under piles of leaves or other debris, so please make sure to alert them by making plenty of noise before you wade in with a bladed implement like shears, a strimmer or mower. Likewise, before starting any bonfires, check within any mounds of material that are destined to go on to avoid BBQ Hog!
Give them a Home
For the nature enthusiasts out there, you might go one step further and build a simple hedgehog hotel. All you really need is a box and tunnel, but YouTube has some more detailed instructional videos. Ensure to allow easy access into the main box but keep the height of the tunnel around 13cm high so other animals have less of a chance of getting in. If DIY isn’t for you, there are some good premade alternatives available online.
Avoid disturbing nests
If you do disturb a nest, try to replace what you have disturbed without handling the material too much to avoid leaving your scent there, as this could scare off the mother. If you are worried a nest may have been abandoned, call the British Hedgehog Preservation Society for further advice.
Cover your ponds
Whilst hedgehogs are known to be good swimmers there is a still a risk something could happen, of course covering your pond defeats the purpose of having one we suggest putting in little slopes or ladders to help any animal climb out. Laying an edging around the pond will help as hedgehogs are rather small so will not be able to climb over.
Take care with your compost heap
Be careful when turning over your compost heap, as this is also an ideal hedgehog nesting spot. Most babies will have left the nest by Oct/Nov so then is a good time for spreading the heap.
Avoid slug pellets
If possible, avoid using slug pellets containing metaldehyde. As slugs and snails are a favourite snack of our spiney friend, there is a risk they could also be harmed if they consume any slugs killed using pellets. If you have a real slug problem, investigate natural approaches or collect dead slugs as you see them
