Help the Hedgehogs

It can be difficult to know how to make meaningful contributions to saving wildlife, but our gardens can play a vital part in helping to keep hedgehogs safe and protected.

From turning your garden into a hedgehog haven, building a hedgehog house and hedgehog hazards to watch out for - we’ve worked with wildlife experts to put together all the practical information you need to do your part to help protect these adorable garden visitors.

We’ll be continuing to share information here as the seasons progress - all with the aim of helping gardeners to create perfect habitats for hedgehogs.

Learn more about:

1. Hedgehog hazards to watch out for
2. How to create a heavenly haven for hedgehogs in your Spring Garden
3. How to build a “hedgehog house”
4. Hedgehog sightings and survey results

Hedgehog hazards to watch out for

As many of us enjoy time outside in the warm weather, we won’t be the only ones out and about! Around this time of year, you garden may be housing nests full of baby hedgehogs (hoglets), who will soon be venturing out to learn how to forage. While your garden might look like a peaceful sanctuary, it can often be filled with hidden perils.

From covering open drains to conducting checks before mowing, there are simple and effective ways to ensure our spiky friends stay safe in our gardens.

Watch our hedgehog safety guide

Hedgehog hazard garden checklist

Whenever we are using or working in our gardens it’s vital to keep our spiky neighbours in mind. Follow our expert checklist to transform your garden from a hazard into a safe, hedgehog-friendly haven in no time.

Protect them from pools

Hedgehogs are surprisingly good climbers - but paddling pools and ponds can quickly become slippery death traps. Cover paddling pools overnight, and provide a ramp for easy escape from ponds.

Provide a drink of water

Leaving a shallow dish of water out during hot weather can be a lifeline for thirsty wildlife, especially during hot weather.

Check your garden before mowing or strimming

Whenever you mow or strim your lawn, check any areas of long grass before going ahead. Hedgehogs love the long grass, and could easily be sleeping or hiding in there. Walk through your lawn and check for hedgehogs before mowing, and mow slowly, giving hedgehogs a chance to hear the mower and flee in good time. It takes 30 seconds to do, but can save a hedgehog a lifetime.

Avoid using pesticides or slug pellets

Slug pellets are really harmful to hedgehogs so avoid using them. Chemical pesticides including slug pellets can poison the whole food chain, so keep hedgehogs and other wildlife safe by embracing nature and using more wildlife-friendly alternatives. Thankfully, there are many natural ways to deter pests in your garden without causing any serious harm to welcome wildlife. “Beer traps” (partially-covered bowls of beer sunk in the ground ) are a good way to keep out slugs, or sprinkle coffee grounds round the base of plants.

Cover drains

Uncovered drains can be a hazard for hedgehogs. They can easily fall in but they will struggle to get out without assistance. For this reason, it’s important to keep your drains covered if possible. Cover them using a specific “manhole cover” used for drains, or using a water-filled bag on a more temporary basis.

Watch your pets

Even the friendliest dog can get a bit too close for comfort for a hedgehog and is unfortunately a common cause of injury or death. If you’re letting your dog out at dusk or night, supervise, and have an outside light so you can limit wildlife interactions..

Leave constant access

To make your garden hedgehog-friendly, it’s useful to make sure they can get in and out of your garden in the first place - hedgehogs are nocturnal and roam around 1-2km every night, so they will appreciate having a wide range of outdoor areas they can explore. To ensure this level of space for hedgehogs, cut out a 13cmx13cm hole at the bottom of your fence.

Alternatively, you can dig a channel underneath your fence if you don’t want to put a hole through it. To really help wildlife, consider replacing a fence with a hedge to allow easy access and provide shelter. However, before completing any of these jobs, make sure to get permission from your neighbours.

How to create a heavenly haven for hedgehogs in your Spring Garden

Our hedgehogs need our help - and making your garden hedgehog friendly is a big step in the right direction. Creating a haven for hedgehogs can be as simple or sophisticated as you like, and every little helps.

Our guide is created by experts who understand the needs of hedgehogs while balancing it with the reality of what is achievable in the majority of British gardens. From building a hedgehog house (see our separate guide on this) to leaving a hole in a fence panel, there are options for everyone.

Here’s our expert guide on how to turn your garden into a hedgehog sanctuary at this time of year - we’ll be adding more as the seasons change and the needs of hedgehogs develop as hibernation approaches.

Leave some areas wild

While many of us prefer our gardens to have a tidy and manicured look, consider leaving a patch a little “wild”. Wild areas in your garden provide a natural food source (hedgehogs eat insects and worms which are more likely to be found in longer grass over summer) and a place of nesting.

You don’t have to go mad (although the wilder the better for wildlife!). Just dedicate a small section of your garden, preferably a sunny corner, and leave it to grow. Allowing dense plants, such as nettles to grow will provide shelter for your hedgehogs throughout the months.You could even consider creating a “meadow edge” of wildflowers, which looks attractive while serving an ecological purpose.

Avoid using pesticides or slug pellets

Slug pellets are really harmful to hedgehogs - and other wildlife - so avoid using them where at all possible. Hedgehogs can eat slugs, so even if they don’t get to the pellets themselves, if they eat a slug that has, it can poison them.

Generally, pesticides are harmful to all wildlife (and our pets), but they are highly toxic to hedgehogs, who can accidentally ingest even coming to contact with them via soil.

There are many natural ways to deter pests in your garden without causing any serious harm to welcome wildlife. “Beer traps” (bowls of beer sunk in the ground) are a good way to keep out slugs, or sprinkle coffee grounds round the base of plants.

Check your garden before mowing

You might be about to embrace No Mow May - but if you are mowing your lawn, check any areas of long grass before going ahead. Hedgehogs love the long grass, and could easily be sleeping or hiding in there.

To mow your lawn without harming any hedgehogs, take these steps: mow during the day (hedgehogs are nocturnal so may be sleeping elsewhere during this time), walk through your lawn and check for hedgehogs before mowing, and mow slowly, giving hedgehogs a chance to hear the mower and flee in good time.

Leave out water and food

During hotter and drier weather, food and water sources for hedgehogs are more scarce, so why not provide both in your garden, and ensure that they have lots of access to nutrients to keep them healthy?

The best food to provide for hedgehogs are plain cat biscuits or wet cat/dog food (you can put this in your hedgehog home if you’re worried about it attracting cats), or specialist hedgehog food. Don’t give them fruit, bread, or milk, as they can’t digest these and they will attract unwanted pests to your garden.

In terms of water, a healthy hedgehog should drink around two tablespoons of water a day, so providing a small bowl every few days should do the trick.

Cover drains

Uncovered drains can be a hazard for hedgehogs. They can easily fall in but they will struggle to get out without assistance - it’s important to keep your drains covered if possible to ensure the safety of our hedgehogs.

To stop hedgehogs from falling into your drain, cover them using a specific “manhole cover” used for drains, or using a water-filled bag on a more temporary basis. If you plan to build over your drain permanently, you may need permission from your local authority.

Leave constant access

To make your garden hedgehog-friendly, it’s useful to make sure they can get in and out of your garden in the first place - hedgehogs are nocturnal and roam around 1-2km every night, so they will appreciate having a wide range of outdoor areas they can explore.

To ensure this level of space for hedgehogs, create a 13cmx13cm hole at the bottom of your fence. Alternatively, you can dig a channel underneath your fence if you don’t want to put a hole through it. Obviously, check with your neighbours before doing this. To really help wildlife, consider replacing a fence with a hedge to allow easy access and provide shelter.

Consider losing a panel if you live in a new build

If you live in a new-build home, there is a chance that your fence is not animal-friendly. New-build homes have had problems with fences being built too tight together, which can prevent hedgehogs from accessing your garden. To mitigate this issue, consider losing a panel or two at the side of your fence.

As the seasons change and hedgehogs’ needs alongside it, we will be providing more tips from our tradespeople experts on how to help the hedgehogs.

Build your own “hedgehog house”

Hedgehog houses have attracted a lot of attention over the last few years - and not always for the right reasons. In fact, several large retailers were hauled over the coals for selling ready-built plastic homes that were not fit for purpose. One wildlife expert went so far as to call them hedgehog death traps.

So are hedgehog houses useful? The answer is a resounding YES - as long as they are built from the right materials, placed in the right location, and kept in the right manner. Luckily, our guide will help you achieve all those things, and hopefully encourage your local hedgehogs to take safe shelter in one when they need to.

Over the last 20 years, experts reckon that we have lost more than 30 per cent of our hedgehog population in urban areas, and up to 75 per cent in more rural ones. Habitat loss is the number one cause of this, as housing developments continue to pop up, and new roads and train lines are constructed.

Providing a hedgehog with a little house is a simple, inexpensive, and convenient way to play your part in rescuing our spiky friends, and getting those numbers back up.

Why a hedgehog house?

A hedgehog house is simply a little home you build for hedgehogs in your garden, to give them shelter, and also protect them from predators such as badgers. They don’t need to be very large, and can be made from basic materials such as any offcut timber you may have.

Hedgehog house “dos”

DO place it in a quiet and sheltered place in your garden, away from any pets or predators.

DO consider how much shelter from the elements it will have - try and find a spot out of the wind, or under cover if possible.

DO leave an area of your garden wild to encourage hedgehogs in, with longer grass. This area would also be great to place your hedgehog house.

Hedgehog house “don’ts”

DON’T paint the inside of the hedgehog house. While it may be tempting to pretty up their house, it’s actually a massive no-no. Paint is very harmful to hedgehogs and must never be used on the inside of their home. Painting the outside is ok (if somewhat unnecessary), but make sure you use a water-based, non-toxic paint.

DON’T use plastic - it’s not environmentally friendly and can break. If it does break, sharp edges can cause serious injury to the animals.

DON’T put food inside the hedgehog home. It can attract predators and pests, and will cause the home to get dirtier, faster.

How to build a hedgehog house

Building a hedgehog house is a simple and effective way to help these declining garden visitors. You can use timber offcuts or half a sheet of plywood to construct a sturdy shelter. The house is designed to provide a safe, dry space for hedgehogs to rest or hibernate, and can be made with just a few basic tools.

Materials Needed:

• Half a sheet of plywood
• A saw
• Nails or screws
• A drill or hammer
• 2 x metal hinges
• A sheet of polythene
• Tape measure
• Marker
• A straight edge or a piece of wood
• Natural bedding like straw or shredded paper
• Soil & leaves

Wood Dimensions:

• Base, lid, back panel: 3 × 30cm × 40cm
• Front panel: 1 × 40cm × 21cm (with entrance hole: 17cm high × 19cm wide)
• Side panels: 2 × 30cm × 26cm
• Tunnel:
  • Base & roof: 2 × 30cm × 17cm
  • Sides: 2 × 30cm × 13cm
• Feet: 4 × 8cm × 8cm

Location:

Place the finished house in a quiet, shaded part of the garden, ideally against a wall, fence, or hedge. Face the entrance south or south-east to avoid cold winds, and keep the entrance clear of debris so hedgehogs can easily come and go.

Insulation and Camouflage:

Once built, line the inside with dry bedding materials such as leaves, straw, or shredded paper. Cover the outside with logs, leaves, and soil to provide extra insulation and help hide the house from predators.

Use bricks if needed to help hold it in place, but be sure to cover any visible man-made edges with natural materials to blend it into the environment.

A step by step guide to building your own hedgehog house:

1. Assemble the Main Box Nail or screw the two side panels (30cm × 26cm) to the base (40cm × 30cm). Then attach the back panel (40cm × 30cm) and the front panel (40cm × 21cm, with the hole). Secure all pieces with nails/screws.
2. Attach the Feet Nail or screw the four 8cm × 8cm feet to the base corners to lift the house off the ground.
3. Make the Tunnel Nail or screw the two tunnel sides (30cm × 13cm) to the tunnel base (30cm × 17cm), then add the tunnel top (30cm × 17cm). Secure the tunnel to the front panel, aligning it with the opening.
4. Fit the Lid Attach the lid (40cm × 30cm) using the metal hinges so it can lift open for cleaning. Make sure it fits snugly but allows easy access.
5. Add Insulation & Protection Place newspaper, leaves, twigs or straw/dry grass inside for bedding. Ideally, cover the whole house with polythene sheeting, then pack soil and leaves around it for insulation.
6. Position the House Place it in a quiet, shaded spot, in a sheltered area, away from pets and predators and with the tunnel entrance facing south. Make sure the entrance is kept clear at all times.

Now it’s just a matter of waiting for your new lodgers to move in! You might want to put out some food for them (meaty cat food or specialist hedgehog food) in a shallow dish nearby - ideally a few meters away from the hedgehog house. It is recommended not to put food inside the hedgehog house, as hedgehogs like to forage, and prefer not to eat and sleep in the same location.

Stats show that a quarter of Brits have never seen a hedgehog in the wild!

Industry experts estimate that hedgehog numbers have been decimated in the last 20 years, and sadly, our own research indicates that millions of Brits have never had the privilege of seeing a hedgehog in the wild.

And it’s a problem that seems to be getting worse. While more than 80 per cent of the over 55s we surveyed had seen wild hedgehogs, in the 18 to 34 age range this dropped to only 60 per cent. This means that almost half of young adults have never seen hedgehogs in their natural habitat - not surprising when experts believe numbers to have declined by 75 per cent since the year 2000.

But despite these creatures now being rare, they are still one of the nation’s favourites. A whopping 83 per cent of respondents said they found hedgehogs cute (and we’d have to agree!). And a third of Brits stated that hedgehogs were their favourite British wildlife animal - despite their prickly exterior.

Brits are ready to help. Close to two thirds (61 per cent) admit that they have noticed a decline in numbers in their local areas over the last few years. And happily, three quarters (73 per cent) say they would be interested in helping hedgehogs live safely in their locality.

So, we hope our Trades to the Rescue: Help the Hedgehogs campaign will go some way to providing the right guidance for Brits to adapt their environments to a hedgehog haven.

Together, we can help save one of Britain’s finest native creatures.