Why Hedgehogs Need Our Help
The UK hedgehog population has declined by over a third since the turn of the millennium, with an estimated 1 million remaining compared to 30 million in the 1950s. Habitat loss, road deaths, pesticide use, and increasingly tidy gardens are all contributing to this alarming decline. The good news: your garden can make a real difference. Even a small, well-managed garden can provide food, shelter, and safe passage for hedgehogs — and once you attract one, you'll be rewarded with a fascinating and highly effective natural pest controller.
Step 1: Create Hedgehog Highways
The single most impactful thing you can do for hedgehogs is ensure they can move freely between gardens. Hedgehogs roam up to 2km each night in search of food and mates — but solid fences and walls create impassable barriers that fragment their habitat.
- Cut a 13cm x 13cm hole at the base of your fence or wall — big enough for a hedgehog, too small for most pets
- Talk to your neighbours and encourage them to do the same; a connected network of gardens is far more valuable than a single isolated one
- Register your gap on the Hedgehog Street map (hedgehogstreet.org) to help researchers track hedgehog corridors
Step 2: Provide Food and Water
Hedgehogs are natural foragers, eating beetles, earthworms, slugs, caterpillars, and other invertebrates. In a well-managed wildlife garden they'll find much of their own food — but supplementary feeding, especially in spring and autumn, can be a lifeline.
What to Feed Hedgehogs
- Specialist hedgehog food — the best option; formulated to meet their nutritional needs
- Meat-based cat or dog food — a good alternative; choose chicken, turkey, or beef flavours in jelly (not gravy)
- Crushed cat biscuits — useful as a dry supplement
What NOT to Feed Hedgehogs
- Milk — hedgehogs are lactose intolerant; milk causes diarrhoea and can be fatal
- Bread — no nutritional value and can cause digestive problems
- Mealworms and sunflower hearts — despite being widely sold as hedgehog food, these cause metabolic bone disease if fed in large quantities; use only as an occasional treat
- Peanuts — same issue as mealworms; avoid or use very sparingly
- Fish-flavoured cat food — hedgehogs don't eat fish naturally; it can cause digestive upset
Fresh Water
Always put out a shallow dish of fresh water alongside food. This is especially important in dry summer weather and during hibernation emergence in spring. Change the water daily to keep it clean.
Step 3: Create Hedgehog Habitat
Hedgehogs need shelter for daytime resting, nesting, and hibernation. A well-structured garden with varied habitats is far more valuable than a neat, manicured one.
Log and Leaf Piles
Stack logs, branches, and dead leaves in a quiet corner of the garden. These provide shelter, warmth, and a rich hunting ground for the invertebrates hedgehogs eat. Leave them undisturbed through winter — a hedgehog may well be hibernating inside.
Compost Heaps
An open-bottomed compost heap is a hedgehog magnet — warm, full of invertebrates, and an ideal nesting site. Always check carefully before turning a compost heap, especially in winter and early spring.
Hedgehog Houses
A purpose-built hedgehog house provides a safe, dry nesting and hibernation site. Position it in a quiet, sheltered spot — under a hedge, behind a shed, or in a corner of the garden. Face the entrance away from prevailing wind and rain. Fill with dry leaves or hay as nesting material.
Key tips for hedgehog houses:
- Place in a quiet spot away from regular foot traffic
- Don't disturb it between October and April — a hedgehog may be hibernating inside
- Clean it out in late spring (May) once hedgehogs have emerged
- Don't use straw — it can tangle around hedgehog legs; use dry leaves or hay instead
Step 4: Make Your Garden Safer
Gardens contain many hidden hazards for hedgehogs. A few simple changes can make a big difference:
- Ponds — hedgehogs can swim but tire quickly and drown if they can't climb out. Add a ramp, sloping stone, or chicken wire escape route to any steep-sided pond
- Netting — fruit cage and pond netting left at ground level can trap and injure hedgehogs. Raise netting at least 30cm off the ground or remove it at night
- Strimmers and lawnmowers — always check long grass and leaf piles before strimming or mowing, especially in summer when hedgehogs may be resting during the day
- Bonfires — never light a bonfire without checking it first; hedgehogs love to nest in piles of wood and leaves. Build bonfires on the day you intend to light them, or check thoroughly before lighting
- Slug pellets — metaldehyde slug pellets are toxic to hedgehogs (and other wildlife). Switch to ferric phosphate pellets or, better still, encourage hedgehogs as natural slug control
- Garden chemicals — reduce or eliminate pesticide and herbicide use; these kill the invertebrates hedgehogs depend on
Step 5: Go a Little Wild
The tidier a garden, the less wildlife it supports. You don't need to let everything go — but a few strategic areas of wildness make a huge difference:
- Leave a patch of long grass or wildflowers in a corner
- Allow ivy to grow up a wall or fence — it provides shelter and late-season food for insects
- Plant native shrubs like hawthorn, blackthorn, or dog rose to provide cover and berries
- Leave fallen leaves where they land under hedges and shrubs
When Do Hedgehogs Hibernate?
UK hedgehogs typically hibernate from November to March, though this varies with weather and individual animals. During hibernation their body temperature drops to near-ambient and their heart rate slows dramatically. Key points:
- Don't disturb a hibernating hedgehog — waking them costs enormous amounts of energy
- A hedgehog seen out in daylight in winter is likely in trouble; contact your local hedgehog rescue
- Put out food and water in autumn (September–October) to help hedgehogs build up fat reserves before hibernation
- Continue feeding from March onwards as hedgehogs emerge hungry from hibernation
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