How to help hedgehogs

Make your garden more hedgehog friendly with these handy hints. 

1. DON’T BE TOO TIDY

Leave undisturbed areas where hedgehogs can forage and shelter.

2. CREATE A COMPOST HEAP

Hedgehogs love the warmth and security – and food. 

3. PROVIDE SHELTER

Simply lean a piece of wood against a wall or build a hibernation box.

4. AVOID PESTICIDES AND CHEMICALS

These eliminate key prey species for hedgehogs.

5. TAKE CARE

Watch out for nesting hedgehogs when using lawnmowers and strimmers.

HOW TO SEE A HEDGEHOG

You don’t necessarily need a garden to see a hedgehog – just a bit of patience and the ability to sit quietly and listen.

Locate a suitable habitat 

If you’ve a hedgehog-friendly garden, sit out on a warm evening, with a glass of something nice, and wait. Otherwise, find a junction of hedges on a small farm or a field on the edge of a deciduous woodland. Sit quietly and wait.

Shut your eyes and listen

Hedgehogs rely mainly on smell to locate prey, and make a highly distinctive snuffling noise when foraging.

Observe behaviour

If you are out and about in late spring/early summer, you might get to see or hear one of the wonders of British wildlife – hedgehog courtship. The male and female shuffle around in circles, snorting explosively, until the female finally relents and allows the male to mate with her.

Did you know?

• A hedgehog defends itself by rolling up into a ball. It does this by contracting special muscles under its spiny skin. The head, legs and tail are forced inside the contracting ball.

• Hedgehogs will sometimes anoint their back and flanks with frothy saliva so that it looks as if they are covered in bubblebath. Experts are not sure why they do this.

To find out more information about hedgehogs visit the British Hedgehog Preservation Society here. 

To join in the Hogwatch survey visit here. 

Find out how to feed mammals in your garden here. 

Discover how to identify bird and mammal nests here.