Help hedgehogs prepare for hibernation

November 10 2018
Help hedgehogs prepare for hibernation

With hedgehogs getting set for hibernation St Peter’s resident Kay Jackson explains how we can help them.

Autumn (and beyond) for Hedgehogs

It’s all systems go for Britain’s hedgehogs at this time of year as they get ready to hibernate. While they’re filling up on food and looking out for the perfect hibernation spot, here’s what you can do to help them.

1.)    Keep putting food out to help recovering mothers and underweight yearlings fatten up. Try unsalted peanuts and sunflower hearts to feed both birds and your pricklies.
2.)    Be careful what you tidy up. Leave log piles, weedy corners and compost heaps. Check anywhere you plan to strim beforehand.
3.)    Create a hibernation site by building a hedgehog house or stuffing leaves into a hollow beneath a logpile or under the shed.
4.)    Plant an apple tree. One of the best trees to attract insects into the gardens for ‘hogs and fantastic for wildlife in general.

Hedgehogs travel around one mile every night through our parks and gardens in their quest to find enough food and a mate. If you have an enclosed garden you might be getting in the way of their plans.

We now know that one of the main reasons why hedgehogs are declining in Britain is because our fences and walls are becoming more and more secure, reducing the amount of land available to them.

We can make their life a little easier by removing the barriers within our control – for example, by making holes in or under our garden fences and walls for them to pass through.

1.) Remove a brick from the bottom of the wall
2.) Cut a small hole in your fence if there are no gaps
3.) Dig a channel underneath your wall, fence or gate

Together we can stop the decline of our much loved British icon.