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 Hedgehogs
in Your Garden
Here in the UK, hedgehogs
are looked upon with affection. There is something about
them that makes most people love them. Perhaps it's their
'busy busy' scurrying movements or the way they roll into
a ball when threatened—don't we all feel like doing
that sometimes? Even their prickly spines or the fact
that they are covered in fleas can't put us off. Maybe
we were brainwashed at an early age by Beatrix
Potter's tales of Mrs Tiggywinkle.
As gardeners, we should
remember that the hedgehog is our best friend because
it loves to eat slugs.
Some Facts About
Hedgehogs
-
Hedgehogs
are mammals, related to shrews and moles
-
Their
spines have adapted from the fur on their shrewish and
molish cousins
-
A well
grown, fully developed adult can weigh over a kilogram
(2.2 pounds)
-
They can
lose up to a third of body weight during hibernation
- They can swim and climb
- They are nocturnal, have
poor eyesight but good sense of smell and hearing
- They hibernate around
mid October
- During hibernation, a
hedgehog's heartrate slows and body temperature drops
- About half of young hedgehogs
don't survive their first hibernation
- They have litters of five
young from May to July
- The young are no longer
dependent on their mothers by six to seven weeks of age
Make Hedgehogs Welcome
in Your Garden
Put aside
a small sheltered area (around 8ft x 6ft if possible) of
the garden as a wildlife area. Just let it become overgrown.
Leave some piles of leaves and other material for them to
burrow into.
If you are very keen, you
can even make them their own luxury hedgehog home. Just
a sturdy box (not cardboard!), about 15ins x 15ins by about
12ins high with an entrance hall of about 6in wide x 6ins
high x around 12 - 15ins long should do it. Waterproof the
main box, make ventilation holes and put in leaf litter,
etc, for bedding. If this sounds like a lot of work, you
can buy hedgehog nestboxes. In either case, put the box
under logs and other natural material to camouflage it.
Whatever you choose to do,
don't disturb them otherwise the mother might abandon her
young.
Don't use chemical slug pellets
because you will kill the hedgehogs who eat the poisoned
slugs and snails.
If you have a garden
pond, make sure that there are areas with sloping banks
or handy rocks to act as stepping stones to allow a hedgehog
that falls in to escape.
If you gather garden rubbish
together over days, weeks or even months, for a bonfire,
check before lighting it, that there are no hedgehogs in
residence.
If you have areas of long
grass, tall, closely packed annuals, etc, and are going
to use a mower or other mechanical equipment to cut them
back, always check for hedgehogs first.
Think about other hazards
in the garden that can trap hedgehogs and other wildlife.
These include netting, empty food containers like cans and
plastic pots, and rings of plastic that hold beer and Cola
cans in packs.
The main message is to keep
your garden tidy of manmade rubbish but not so tidy when
it comes to natural material.
Hedgehogs are not just cute
creatures, they serve a useful purpose in the garden. If
we use environmentally friendly gardening methods, we can
encourage them and other beneficial wildlife, into our gardens.
Not only do we get help keeping pests under control, we
will sometimes have the supreme pleasure of seeing wild
animals going about their daily lives in our own gardens.
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