Wild Hedgehog Garden Management: Enabling Welfare

Garden management decisions significantly affect hedgehog welfare and survival. Creating hedgehog-friendly gardens involves providing connectivity, foraging habitat, nesting sites, and avoiding common hazards.

Key Facts

An estimated 1 million hedgehogs remain in the UK, compared to approximately 36 million in the 1950s
Hedgehogs forage over 1-2 kilometres per night, requiring connectivity through garden boundaries
Garden hazards including strimmers, slug pellets, bonfires, ponds without exit ramps, and netting cause significant hedgehog mortality
Providing hedgehog highways (13x13cm gaps in fences) allows movement between gardens throughout the foraging range
Log piles, compost heaps, and dense shrubs provide nesting and hibernation sites
Hedgehog awareness of 'Hedgehog Street' connectivity schemes has engaged millions of UK households in garden-level conservation action

Welfare Considerations

Garden management affects hedgehog welfare through both direct hazards and habitat quality. Strimmer injuries cause severe lacerations, often to the face and legs, that are frequently fatal. Bonfires lit without checking for hibernating hedgehogs cause burns and death. Slug pellets containing metaldehyde and methiocarb are acutely toxic to hedgehogs. Ponds without gradual exit ramps cause drowning when hedgehogs enter to drink. Netting left on the ground entangles and slowly strangles. Each of these hazards is entirely preventable through simple behaviour changes. Beyond avoiding harm, positive provision of foraging habitat (lawns with areas of long grass, log piles hosting invertebrates) and connectivity (highway gaps) enables hedgehogs to maintain adequate nutrition and body condition through the active season, improving survival through hibernation. The aggregate welfare impact of garden-level changes across millions of households is substantial.

What You Can Do

Cut gaps (13x13cm) in garden fences to create hedgehog highways connecting to neighbouring gardens
Check bonfires thoroughly for hedgehogs before lighting, or build them just before lighting
Never use slug pellets containing metaldehyde or methiocarb - use ferric phosphate pellets instead
Install a pond exit ramp if your garden has a pond with vertical sides
Check lawn areas for hedgehogs before strimming or using rotary mowers
Join Hedgehog Street and register your garden as part of the connected hedgehog highway network