Hints & tips for the hedgehog season
Ask yourself this simple question. When was the last time you saw a hedgehog? Apart from a minority of lucky observers, the answer is very likely to be ‘a long, long time ago’. Well, this could partly be to do with the fact that hedgehogs have been in rapid decline for many years; so much so, in fact, that we have lost almost a third of them in the past decade alone.
Urban conurbations, large and fancy contemporary village ‘settlements’ and residential building on a vast scale is largely to blame for their decline. With the loss of natural habitat comes the loss of nature itself, but this isn’t the inexorable ‘be all and end all’ of the matter.
You can help…But how?
There are approximately fifteen million gardens in the UK; we are, to say the least, a nation of garden lovers, so why can’t we use some of this space to accommodate these spiky little beasts. It’s really as simple as adding a few log piles, planting a smattering of wildflowers, and leaving out a few scruffy piles of leaves in some inconspicuous, shady part of your garden.
So what are our best tips for a hedgehog-friendly garden?
- Security is key: therefore, we recommend a good log pile. They provide security and a ton of insectivores for your hedgehogs to munch on. All you have to do is collect some old, dead wood, perhaps even asking your local park for some help, and pile it up in an undisturbed area of your garden.
- A good nesting and bedding site: nothing beats a big pile of leaves for hedgehogs to rummage around in. You can even bury a hedgehog box among the leaves.
- A rough, overgrown corner: if you can create a ‘wild spot’ in your garden, this will work wonders for your hedgehogs. Instead of doing the yearly clean in your garden, let a part of it grow naturally. Not only will this attract hedgehogs, you might also find a few more birds in your garden.
If you have any further inspiration for attracting, or any interesting stories, please post below and share.
Last year I had a lot of visits from hedgehogs but found three dead over a time. They loved dried mealworms but this attracted the slugs big time and I read that slugs are actually not good for them and can give them a lung infection. Although I bought the proper hedgehog food, both biscuits and meat, this also attracted the slugs and the hedgehogs really weren’t that interested in the biscuits at all. I ended up putting out mostly live mealworms but can too much of this be harmful to them? It all became a big worry and is putting me off trying to help again this year.
Hi Mo, thanks for your comment and sorry to hear about the three hedgehogs you’ve found in your garden. We would still recommend a
specific type of hedgehog food. You could use slug pellets to rid your garden of slugs, but the effects on hedgehogs are still up in the air, as these pellets contain Metaldehyde which could affect the reproductive system, and even lead to death. Have you used slug pellets in your garden? Alternative, non-chemical methods of control include leaving out seaweed, eggs shells (which are difficult for slugs to climb over, plant garlic near to where you feed hedgehogs.
Here’s a useful article: http://www.hedgehogstreet.org/pages/alternative-methods.html
No, I never use slug pellets or any pesticides in my garden. I tried putting small grit and even Vaseline around the large tub I laid on its side to put the hedgehog food in but nothing deterred them and they were mostly HUGE ones.
I haven’t seen any signs at all that hedgehogs are coming into the garden this year and am wondering whether to get a covered hedgehog feeding station but am sure the slugs will find their way in there too – grrrrrrrrr!!
Thanks for your link
We are very lucky in that we have at least one hedgehog visiting our garden regularly every evening, and last year we had two together.
We regularly put food out and as we also feed the birds there is always water available too.
Hopefully if we all pull together we can help to increase the numbers of this adorable little creature.
We had a regular garden visitor last autumn. He wasfound on top of the ground bird feeder helping himself to leftovers. My partner bought me a hogitat for my birthday in September, which I positioned under an existing wood pile (I have a chiminea). My daughter also bought me a pack which included feeding and water bowls plus food. The hedgehog then disappeared when it went into hibernation, not in my hogitat, but he is back in the garden again now though I haven’t actually seen him, just his little poo gifts. I also picked up some hedgehog poo from my front garden yesterday. Hopefully I won’t have a problem with slugs this year, as my spikey friend, Hirace, will deal with them.
WE have seen two in our garden last night 15/04/16 as i put out meal worms and they ate the lot in about 5 minutes
I have 2 hedgehogs each evening feeding, they love dried mealworms, this is their 2nd year
I live in a large village in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire and I am very happen to say we have had Hedgehogs visit or live in our garden for several years. Last wnter my husband built a strong Hoggy House and place under a lot of leaves etc. We were thrilled to hear snoffling & grunting a few weeks ago coming from the box! We started to see a single Hoggy at night around the base of the bird feeders so we started putting out the moist Hedgehog food, dried meal worms and soaked sultannas and water – although we have a small wildlife pond. However unfortunately our neigbour has recently barracked himself with all around wooden panelling – leaving no gap for Hoggy to now go from garden to garden which worried us. So my husband made a small CD size hole in our gate and over the last few nights we have spotted two hoggies eating!! We know that the Hoggy Box is in use as we place leaves and hay in the entrance and it’s alway moved in the morning. So hopefully we may see Hoglets!!
I’m lucky enough to have a resident hedgehog – and cannot stress enough not only to leave ‘rough areas’ but also to avoid using any pesticides that can harm not only birds but hedgehogs too. I provide cover all around the garden by allowing some plants to ‘grown downwards’ so the hedgehog can rummage at will, I also ensure the water is clean for it to drink and provide wet & crunchy food topped with either dried crickets or mealworms for the hedgehog.
If pests like whitefly are a nuisance I mix up warm water with a clove of garlic & a single drip of washing up liquid – that deters them and doesn’t harm any other creature. Snails can be deterred by putting wd40 around pots and eggshells around plants. Hope these tips help
we live in Poole and we have a hedgehog visit us every night ,We feed it dried mealworms and sunflower hearts which it loves.
Last year I had 2 hedgehogs regularly coming to feed on mealworms and moist hedgehog food.The year before I had 3.So far this year I have not seen them.I have seen lots of mice which I tolerated but a few weeks ago I saw a rat which I wasn’t happy about so I purchased a solar repeller ,I set this up on the setting for rats and mice and have not seen any of those since.Do you think I might be deterring the hedgehogs by using this device?
I live in Lymington, near the New Forest and, soon after moving into our house nearly three years ago, we saw a hedgehog in the garden. A thick laurel hedge borders the length of our back garden and this makes a perfect nesting and feeding site for hedgehogs and the multitudes of garden birds living in there. Since our first sighting, we have encouraged the hedgehogs to come by putting a dish of dry hedgehog biscuits, a dish of mealworm suet pellets, dried mealworms, and sultanas and a dish of fresh water out in the front and back gardens every night at dusk. Last Summer we counted six at one time (four in the back garden, two at the front). We have seen their lengthy courting rituals, the appearance of mum with her hoglets and the hoglets growing and becoming independent. We have even, on several occasions, watched a fox and a hedgehog standing side-by-side eating from the dishes. We now have three hedgehog houses (two at the back and one at the front and all occupied) which we fill with fresh dried straw. When we see that they are no longer occupied, we give the houses a good clean and fill them with fresh dried straw. At the moment, two are still occupied. It is fascinating watching them come and go, looking well nourished and thriving in their little garden habitat. Our house is at the end of a cul-de-sac so they are relatively safe as they make their way from garden to garden and several of our neighbours report seeing them on a regular basis. There was a most wonderful programme on television in December called “Hedgehog Hotel”. If you are interested in hedgehogs, I urge you to watch it if it is shown again.
We live beside a field with a very hedgehog friendly garden – lots of shrubs/woody area, and log piles . Haven’t seen as many as we used to about 10-15 years ago, but we have seen a couple this year, also evidence of droppings . They are certainly on the decline in our area – and so sad to see them killed on the roads. David [ Cherry Willingham, Lincolnshire ]
When I was on holiday in August my neighbour heard something in my garden and came to investigate, the disturbed hedgehog left in a hurry and has not been back. It had been a regular visitor eating and drinking and some nights sleeping in the hedgehog house. Just hoping if I continue to put food out it might come back. My neighbour said it was a very large hedgehog.
I saw an adult last July in my back garden so started to feed it with beef flavoured cat food and crushed cat biscuits. A couple of nights later 2 youngsters arrived!! I then bought specialist food for them, and a hedgehog house. All 3 continued to visit nightly and no garden slugs!! I placed the house in a very secluded part of the garden covered with dried leaves and prunings from my apple trees and logs. I reduced the food in late September once happy they looked well fed enough to prepare for hibernation.
This spring (April) the 2 youngsters appeared and I once again started to put out food. Eventually the adult also appeared again – I was delighted!! However, the best surprise was in August when I looked out one evening at the food dishes to see a tiny new baby hedgehog feeding in the middle of the dish!! It was so cute and smaller than a tennis ball.By the time I had gone for the camera the little mite had gone. I have a large back garden and there is good access for them to get into several other large back gardens from mine. Unfortunately the fox found the food on the patio so I have had to create a feeding station for the hedgies which means I cant see them feeding only coming & going if I look out at the correct time. However, all food goes each night. the water dish left for them always shows signs of them paddling in it!!
I will reduce feeding late September as they are of a very robust size and hope that I will see them again in spring.
I live in Norfolk and have a regular hedgehog visitor, probably because I leave food out each night. I originally fed only dry food, but then found it preferred chicken cat food (tinned Whiskas). I put this out with mealworms on top. The hedgehog loves the mealworms but the cats don’t like them all so they stop the cats eating the food that’s out for the hedgehogs. I tried dried food again a couple of days ago but they are leaving it now, just eating the wet food. We have had a number of hedgehogs over the past 3 years, a couple have been ill and I have had to take them to the local wildlife hospital. One, who sadly died, is thought to have eaten a slug which had eaten a pellet. This year a baby one lost a leg (probably to a strimmer) but it has I’m glad to say, been rehomed to a lady with a totally enclosed garden who already had a hedgehog with a leg missing. The one we see mostly now is very large and only just able to get under the car – where I leave the food in wet weather, but I think one or two others also come in the early hours. I am advised that hedgehogs sometimes come out looking for food during hibernation if there is a warmer spell and mine didn’t hibernate until January this year. I have noticed a huge reduction in slugs and snails since we have had hedgehogs in the garden
I have a hedgehog, maybe two, and I put out catfood and hog biscuits. I never see the hog, only its sausage-like poo, but the food always disappears overnight. I have a strong feeling that neighbours cats are eating the food. How can I ensure that cats can’t get at the food but the hogs can?
To anyone feeding the hoggies mealworms please STOP!
It has recently been proved that mealworms provide no nutritional value to hedgehogs. They basically become addicted to them, eat too many, thus making them full up and then not eating proper food with nutrients for them in. They’re ok every so often as a treat but not a lot and not everyday.
Dried cat or dog food is perfect, chicken or turkey flavour ideally as they struggle to digest beef and game flavours. Wet meat can be left but again, only sporadically. Always make sure they have fresh water and make them a feeding station out of an upturned plastic box. £4 on average and cut a hole no bigger than 4”x4” make sure you either file or tape around the rough edges of the entrance tho!