Supporting Hedgehogs in Gardens: A Deep Guide
Hedgehogs have declined by at least 50% in rural Britain since 2000, though urban populations show more stability. Gardens play an increasingly critical role in hedgehog survival and welfare. What garden owners do — or don't do — directly affects hedgehog welfare every night hedgehogs are active.
Connectivity: The Most Important Factor
Hedgehogs travel 1-2 km per night in search of food and mates. Solid fences and walls fragment this movement, confining hedgehogs to single gardens that may not contain sufficient resources. Creating 13×13 cm gaps at the base of fences (the "hedgehog highway") connects gardens into networks that hedgehogs can traverse.
The British Hedgehog Preservation Society's Hedgehog Street initiative maps connected garden networks. Studies show hedgehogs in connected networks have greater body mass, better condition at hibernation entry, and higher survival rates than those in fragmented gardens.
Habitat Creation
Log piles, compost heaps, dense shrub borders, and undisturbed leaf litter provide essential hedgehog features — foraging habitat (invertebrates living in decaying wood and leaf litter), nesting sites, and shelter. Leaving some garden "untidiness" is one of the most effective wildlife welfare actions a garden owner can take.
Dedicated hedgehog boxes provide stable, predator-excluded nesting and hibernation sites. Positioning matters — away from human disturbance, in dry, sheltered spots with leaf litter access.
Supplementary Feeding
Supplementary feeding can support hedgehogs during food-scarce periods. Appropriate foods: meat-based cat or dog food (wet or dry), or specialist hedgehog food. Never offer: milk (causes diarrhoea — hedgehogs are lactose intolerant), bread, mealworms (now known to cause metabolic bone disease with regular feeding), or fish-based food.
Fresh water should always accompany food. Covered feeding stations exclude cats and larger animals and keep food dry.
Hazard Reduction
Common garden hedgehog hazards: strimmers (cause severe lacerations — always check before using in long grass), slug pellets containing metaldehyde (direct toxicity and food chain impact), garden netting (hedgehogs entangle fatally), swimming pools and ponds without exit ramps (drowning), and bonfires (check before lighting). These hazards kill and injure substantial numbers of hedgehogs annually and are almost entirely preventable.
Finding an Injured Hedgehog
Signs requiring intervention: out during daylight, staggering or disorientated, obviously injured, very small (under 300g approaching winter — underweight for hibernation), fly-blown (maggots visible). Handle with gloves, contain in a high-sided box with ventilation, provide warmth (hot water bottle wrapped in towel), and contact the British Hedgehog Preservation Society helpline (01584 890 801) or local wildlife rehabilitator.