In my ‘The Home of Ecology’ blog I outlined a few projects you could do at home to help attract wildlife into your garden and promised I would return with some more projects and experiences later. So lets start with hedgehogs, the spiny little mammals that, if you are lucky, you may see roaming around your garden in the evening.
Hedgehogs are one of our unmistakable native species. However, in recent years hedgehogs have suffered a major decline in numbers leaving the species classified as ‘vulnerable to extinction’. The decline is due to numerous factors, including pesticide use on farmland, the loss of habitats to development and a general increase in domestic pets, although the issue I will cover in this blog is the issue of our gardens, and the change in how we use them.
In recent years we seem obsessed with clean and tidy gardens with little or no greenery and impermeable fences separating us from the neighbours. So what can we do to help hedgehogs? One of the easiest ways to help hedgehogs is to go back to having messy, overgrown gardens. Hedgehogs love vegetation for foraging, shelter and to get around undetected, they also love leaves and other debris, so try not to keep all of your garden tidy, leave some messy areas. If you have a pond make sure that you put something in to allow hedgehogs to get out. Hedgehogs are capable swimmers but often get trapped in garden ponds because they can’t climb the sheer sides to get out. And most importantly, if you want to attract hedgehogs to your garden, make sure that you don’t have impermeable fences. There’s no point having a garden that’s ideal for hedgehogs but having no access for them to get to it. If you have fences put in a couple of holes to let hedgehogs have access. A hole 13cm in diameter is sufficient for hedgehogs but will stop most household pets from escaping.
The other thing that you can do for hedgehogs is to build them a house. Hedgehog houses can realistically be pretty much any shape or size you want. If you want to build a hedgehog castle, that’s fine, if it’s sited properly, and if hedgehogs are in the area, they will probably use it, but don’t think a castle is necessary, a small simple house will do.
There are endless designs for hedgehog houses out there with most websites providing you with printable instructions telling you exactly what you need. A good place to start for anything hedgehog related is www.hedgehogstreet.org, they have information on hedgehogs, a place to registered sightings and of course instructions on how to build a hedgehog house.
Hedgehog houses should be built from untreated timber, although the outside can be treated to extend the life of the house. The key principles with any hedgehog house are that it provides somewhere sheltered, safe from predators and sufficiently insulated to provide them with some shelter in the summer and a place to hibernate in the winter.
I recently built a new hedgehog house to add to our garden. The design is pretty much the one given on www.hedgehogstreet.org, with some minor tweaks, such as a felt covered and hinged roof for easy access to check and clean the interior. The tunnel provides a 13cm opening to provide access to the interior, which should prevent most domestic pets from entering, even cats. The house will be placed in a sheltered location within our garden in the hopes that when our hedgehogs return next year they find, and start using, their new home.
If you don’t have the ability to build a hedgehog house, don’t worry. You can pick up houses of all kinds of designs for minimal cost. Don’t overpay though, stick to the simple designs, because in reality you should be putting your hedgehog house is a quiet corner of your garden with lots of vegetation, so there no point paying a fortune for something just because its nicer to look at.
You can also provide hedgehogs with a little food and water when they are active. We have a hedgehog feeding station that has been in place for some time now. We use that to provide hedgehogs with a sheltered place to get some water and a little food, either specific hedgehog food, dog or cat food. Putting out the food helps the hedgehogs in our local area and means that we get a nightly visit from at least one hedgehog.
So get out there are make your garden a little more attractive for hedgehogs, its easy, just do a little less gardening. Doing so will help to ensure that we don’t lose one of Britain’s iconic species for good.