Why Hedgehogs Need a Helping Hand

Few sights warm a British gardener's heart quite like a hedgehog snuffling across the lawn at dusk. Once a familiar visitor to almost every garden, these prickly creatures have suffered a steep decline in recent decades. Changes in farming, tidy fences and busy roads have all taken their toll, and urban and suburban gardens now form a vital patchwork of habitat. The good news is that a handful of small, inexpensive changes can turn your patch into a genuine hedgehog haven — and you do not need acres of land to make a real difference.

Open Up the Garden Boundary

Hedgehogs are wanderers. A single animal may roam through dozens of gardens in a night in search of food and a mate, but a solid fence or wall stops them dead in their tracks. The simplest and most effective thing you can do is create a small gap at the base of your fencing so they can pass through. A hole roughly the size of a CD — about 13 centimetres square — is perfect. It is large enough for a hedgehog to squeeze through comfortably, yet too small for most pets to escape or for a fox to take an interest.

If you are replacing a fence or laying a new gravel board, consider lifting the whole panel a few centimetres off the ground instead. Chat with your neighbours about doing the same, and you can stitch together a whole street of connected gardens, which is far more valuable than a single isolated plot. If a gap is not practical, a short tunnel beneath a gate or a lifted paving slab will serve just as well.

Offer the Right Food and Fresh Water

Hedgehogs are omnivores and spend much of the night hunting beetles, caterpillars, slugs and earthworms. You can supplement this natural diet, especially in autumn when they need to build up fat reserves before hibernation. What you put out matters enormously.

• Meaty cat or dog food — the pâté-style tinned food in jelly or gravy is ideal. Avoid fish flavours.
• Hedgehog biscuits or crushed cat kibble make a good dry option.
• Fresh water in a shallow bowl, refreshed daily. This is just as important as food, particularly in hot, dry spells.
• Never bread and milk. Despite the old tradition, hedgehogs are lactose intolerant and bread fills them up without nourishing them.
• Skip the mealworms. They are low in calcium and can cause serious bone problems if fed in quantity.

Place food under a weighted bowl or a purpose-made feeding station to stop cats and foxes pinching it. Feed after dusk and clear away anything left by morning to avoid attracting rats and other unwanted guests.

Make Your Garden Wildlife-Friendly

A hedgehog's ideal garden is a little untidy around the edges. Leave a wild corner with long grass, log piles and leaf litter, and you provide both shelter and a ready supply of natural food. Compost heaps are a particular favourite, offering warmth and a steady stream of invertebrates.

Plants earn their keep too. Native shrubs such as hawthorn, blackthorn and honeysuckle attract the insects hedgehogs eat, while dense evergreens offer daytime cover. A shallow pond with gently sloping edges gives them somewhere to drink and bathe, provided there is always an easy way out.

Take care with hazards, as well. Check long grass before strimming, look inside bonfire piles before lighting them, and cover drains and steep-sided ponds. Slug pellets and other chemical controls can be lethal, so try to garden without them where you can.

Provide a Safe Place to Hibernate

Between November and March, hedgehogs need somewhere dry, quiet and sheltered to sleep through the coldest months. A purpose-built hedgehog house is a wonderfully worthwhile investment, but a simple wooden box with a small entrance tunnel and a waterproof roof does the job. Line it with dry leaves or hay and tuck it into a quiet corner against a wall or beneath a shed.

If you would rather build your own, use untreated timber and site the entrance away from prevailing winds. Resist the urge to check inside too often, as disturbance can wake a hibernating animal and waste precious energy. A pile of logs, a stack of leaf mould or the space under a garden shed will often be adopted just as happily.

Watch Without Disturbing

Once your garden is hospitable, you might be lucky enough to spot a visitor. The best time to look is just after dusk, when you may hear them rustling through the borders. If you want to help monitor local numbers, you can record sightings with a national wildlife survey, which gives researchers valuable data on where hedgehogs are thriving. If you find a hedgehog out in daylight, or one that looks thin or wobbly, contact a local wildlife rescue for advice — daytime activity is often a sign that something is wrong.

With a CD-sized gap in the fence, a bowl of meaty food and a quiet corner left wild, you will have done more for these gentle animals than you might imagine. Small acts, repeated across a neighbourhood, add up to a lifeline — and there is something quietly wonderful about knowing your garden is part of that chain.