The British Hedgehog is in trouble. It’s been around, largely unchanged, for around 15 million years but there is a real risk that your children or grandchildren may come to live in a world where it no longer inhabits the British Isles.
Every four years the People’s Trust for Endangered Species and The British Hedgehog Preservation Society publish a report on the state of British Hedgehog populations. In 2018, they reported that since 2000, hedgehog populations had declined by half in rural areas and a third in towns and cities. In 2022, it was reported that populations continued to drop in rural areas but had slowed, and were possibly recovering, in urban populations.
Hedgehogs are creatures of the woodland edge, where their prey live, which is mainly worms, slugs, beetles and other creepy-crawlies. The proliferation of hedgerows to divide fields was great news for them, as hedges represent a linear woodland with miles of edge and, consequently, tons of food and nesting material. Pastures, too, were perfect foraging territory. But miles of hedges have been destroyed to make bigger fields and pastures have been destroyed because they are no longer needed in a world where farms are run with machinery, not animals.
Photo: Michael Eardley
Hedgehog ranges can be 10 to 20 hectares in size. A hedgehog can travel 2 or 3 kilometres in a single night. This means they need a lot of land for foraging, hibernating and reproducing and it seems they are increasingly preferring to come to towns, villages and cities to find what they need.
Gardens have potential as a huge area of suitable habitat for hedgehogs to feed and reproduce. The easier it is for them to travel via gardens, the less time they have to spend crossing roads, too. But gardens have become increasingly hard for them to access over the decades. Where once many gardens were bounded by hedges or perhaps a simple paling fence, both of which were permeable to mammals like hedgehogs, we are increasingly enclosing our gardens with solid fencing and solid timber or concrete gravel boards.
So, what can you do about this?
One simple action you can take is to let hedgehogs into your garden. If your garden borders an open green space, creating a hedgehog highway by cutting a 13 centimetre hole in your gravel board or in a chain-link fence will enable hedgehogs to access your garden. It is also possible to buy gravel boards with hedgehog hog holes ready-made, in timber and in concrete. If you have neighbours, speak to them about linking gardens with hedgehog holes. Or you could cut a hole higher up in your fence and build a ramp on each side for the hedgehog to access it.
Photo: Wild Things Keyworth
Knebworth Neighbourhood plan contains a policy of encouraging new-build developments to include hedgehog holes in fencing. This helps make new housing suitable for wildlife but if we can make existing gardens more hedgehog friendly and link them together, we can create a large area able to help provide for their needs.
When they feed, hedgehogs make only a small hole in soil, about the size of your thumb. And if you’re worried about them spreading fleas to pets, don’t be – hedgehog fleas need hedgehogs and won’t infest cats or dogs.
There are certain other features that hedgehogs find attractive, too. It probably goes without saying, that fake grass is out. Gardens with linkages between front and back garden are more likely to be visited, as are gardens with compost heaps. Log piles, leaf-piles, wildflower areas, long grass, and ponds, besides being good for wildlife generally, are also great for hedgehogs. Just be careful with the garden fork, mower and strimmer – check for hedgehogs before you start gardening in Spring.
Don’t worry if you only have space for one feature. It’s unlikely one garden alone will be enough to support a hedgehog, anyway. Think about how your garden fits in with those around it. You may not have space for a pond, but your neighbour might. Maybe you have space for some wildflowers and your neighbour is a composting fanatic. Between you, you can have a larger impact than you could on your own. Once you have hedgehogs visiting your garden you may want to help further by feeding them. If you do, you can buy specially made hedgehog food or you can feed them cat food, but avoid milk and bread as both are bad for them. If there are lots of cats in the neighbourhood, you might want to build a feeding station, to keep the cats from taking it.
You can find basic instructions here:
https://www.hedgehogstreet.org/cat-proof-hedgehog-food/
You might even want to buy or make a house for them to hibernate in. The Wildlife Trusts have some information on how to build a basic example, here:
https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/actions/how-build-hedgehog-home
In March, Knebworth Environmental Group are asking you to make a pledge to help a hedgehog by creating a hedgehog highway through your fence. We want to hear from you, either on our website or on Facebook. Or you can email us your pledge at knebworthenvironmentalgroup@gmail.com. Photos or videos of your pledge and maybe photos of your highway. And once you’ve made your hole, maybe you can add its location, and those of any hedgehog sightings, to the Hedgehog Street Big Hedgehog Map, here: https://www.hedgehogstreet.org/
You’ll also find lots more information on Hedgehogs on the same site. Maybe you’ll even become a hedgehog champion.
Good luck and let us know your hedgehog story.
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