Hedgehogs are one of the most endearing creatures you can invite into your garden. Not only do they add charm and character to your outdoor space, but they also play a vital role in maintaining a healthy ecosystem. By adding hedgehog houses and hedgehog highways in your garden, you’re supporting these adorable animals and helping to counteract the decline of their population in the wild. Here’s how to make your garden a haven for hedgehogs, with habitats designed to keep them safe and happy.
How You Can Make a Hedgehog-Friendly Garden
The best environment for a hedgehog is rich in shelter, food, and safety. Creating a hedgehog-friendly garden involves incorporating features that encourage hedgehogs to visit, feel safe, and even stay the night.
A perfect hedgehog habitat includes dense hedges, undergrowth, or other natural cover where they can forage and hide from predators. Natural shelter includes piles of logs, leaves, or twigs. Providing these warm and dry places for them in quiet, undisturbed corners of the garden is key for nesting and hibernating.
Gardens free from slug pellets, pesticides and chemical fertilizers are especially beneficial for hedgehogs, as these practices help maintain a steady food supply. healthy insect population.
Finally, ensuring safe passage through your garden with hedgehog highways – small gaps in fences or hedges – will allow hedgehogs to move freely as they explore their territory. You will find out how to create both hedgehog holes for highways and hedgehog houses in following sections. Providing natural food sources is also crucial to attract hedgehogs to your garden.
What Do Hedgehogs Eat and Drink?
Hedgehogs are insectivores and primarily eat invertebrates. Beetles, earthworms, slugs, and caterpillars are important parts of their diet. Hedgehogs should only drink water.
To support hedgehogs by increasing the invertebrate population in your garden, consider adding features like wildflower patches, log piles or compost heaps. Let grass grow tall, leave dead plants standing throughout the winter (especially ones with hollow stems), and allow some piles of autumn leaves to be left in the garden. Try to place some or all of these wildlife-friendly features close to each other, preferably close to a hedgehog highway if you’ve had to create one.
Providing them with a source of drinking water will keep them hydrated, especially during hot summers. This could be a pond with clean water and safety measures to prevent drowning (more on that later), or a shallow dish of fresh water you put out, preferably near a hedgehog house or natural shelter. Avoid feeding hedgehogs milk or bread, as these can harm their digestive systems.
Where is the Best Place to Put a Hedgehog House?
The best place to put a hedgehog house or a natural hedgehog habitat is near a hedge or natural cover, where hedgehogs feel safest. Placing the house in a shaded, quiet corner of your garden ensures it’s inviting and secure. If you have boundary fencing or hedges, make it easier for the hedgehogs to find the house by placing it near a hole.
Hedgehogs typically do not eat and sleep in the same place every night, so positioning multiple houses or habitats around your garden, especially near hedges, can increase the likelihood of visits from different hedgehogs. This strategic placement makes your garden a consistent part of their nightly foraging route.
When Do Hedgehogs Hibernate?
Hedgehogs typically hibernate between November and March, depending on the weather. During this time, they seek out safe, insulated spaces to conserve energy.
To prepare your garden, ensure that hedgehog homes are well-stocked with nesting materials such as dry grass and leaves, and placed in quiet, undisturbed spots. Avoid disturbing potential hibernation sites, such as log piles or leaf heaps, during this period.
How to Make a Natural Hedgehog Habitat
Building a natural hedgehog habitat in your garden is simple and rewarding. Here are the steps:
- Choose a quiet, sheltered spot in your garden where hedgehogs will feel safe. Preferably near a hedge or shrubbery, if you have any.
- Pile up logs, twigs, and leaves to create a base for shelter. This mimics the natural materials hedgehogs use for nests. You can stack logs like a pyramid to create a more stable shelter. Learn about the numerous benefits of log piles in a wildlife-friendly garden, and how to make different types of piles.
- Add extra insulation with dry grass or hay, making it cozy and warm, especially for hibernation season.
- Ensure the area is undisturbed and shaded, away from heavy foot traffic or direct sunlight.
- Keep the surrounding area pesticide-free, maintaining a healthy environment for the insects hedgehogs love to eat.
How to Build a Hedgehog House
Building a hedgehog house is a fun DIY project that helps these animals feel at home. Here’s how:
- Choose durable, untreated wood to create a weather-resistant structure while keeping things natural and biodegradable.
- Construct a rectangular box with an entrance about 13 cm x 13 cm to only just allow all hedgehogs in but keep larger predators out.
- Add a removable roof, making it easier to clean out the house after the hibernation season.
- Include ventilation holes to ensure airflow without letting in too much light or moisture.
- Fill the house with dry leaves, straw, or hay to create a cozy nesting environment.
- Place the house in a shaded, quiet spot, preferably near natural cover, like a hedge.
How to Choose Which Hedgehog House to Buy
When buying a hedgehog house, look for sturdy construction, predator-proof design, and good insulation. Opt for houses made from untreated, weatherproof wood or high-quality, eco-friendly materials.
Avoid houses with entrances that are too large, as they might attract unwanted animals. Check for features like removable roofs for easy cleaning and built-in ventilation to ensure hedgehogs stay safe and comfortable.
Always place the house in a suitable location as outlined above.
Tips to Encourage Hedgehogs to Use the Hedgehog House
If you find that your hedgehog house doesn’t attract as many hedgehogs as you’d hoped, go through this list to make sure you’ve made their home as inviting as possible:
- Place the house near natural shelter, like a hedge or shrubs. These locations are also attractive food sources for hedgehogs, since they eat caterpillars which sometimes feed on hedges and shrubs. Before winter, try leaving tall grass or dead plant stems around the hedgehog house, for the very same reasons.
- Add dry leaves or hay inside to encourage nesting and hibernating.
- Provide a shallow dish of water nearby for hydration.
- Avoid disturbing the house once it’s set up, as hedgehogs prefer quiet spaces.
- Provide more food sources nearby to attract them. Place damp woodpiles and partially buried logs in a shady area close to the hedgehog house to provide them with beetles, worms, and slugs.
- Keep pets away from the house to avoid scaring hedgehogs off.
Do Hedgehogs Take the Same Route Every Night?
Hedgehogs do tend to follow more or less the same routes each night as they travel their territory, which can span up to 10-20 hectares for males and smaller areas for females. These nightly journeys, 1-2 km long, are essential for foraging and mating.
By creating a hedgehog highway you enable hedgehogs to safely navigate between gardens, expanding their habitat and ensuring they can explore without barriers.
How to Make a Hedgehog Highway
Creating a hedgehog highway to link gardens in their territory is easy and incredibly impactful. Follow these steps:
- Identify fences, walls or dense hedges blocking hedgehog movement between your own garden and neighbouring gardens.
- Cut a small hole about 13 cm x 13 cm in the base of the fence or hedge, same as a hedgehog house entrance. This size is perfect for hedgehog tunnels but too small for most pets. If you don’t want to cut into your hedge and have to maintain that hole, try digging into the ground underneath to give them space to go under the hedge, between stems.
- Reinforce the edges of the hole, if necessary, to prevent splinters or sharp edges.
- Add a marker or small sign to let neighbours know it’s a hedgehog hole. You can get creative with a “street sign” announcing it’s a Hedgehog Highway.
- Encourage neighbours to join in, creating a network of connected gardens for hedgehogs. This will become their highway.
How to Make a Hedge for Wildlife
Hedges are essential for wildlife, offering food, shelter, and corridors for movement. It’s not just hedgehogs that are drawn to this part of your garden. While you’re already adapting your hedge to benefit hedgehogs, you can consider making it more attractive to other types of wildlife as well.
Choose native species such as hawthorn, hazel, or holly. These plants provide berries, flowers, and cover for hedgehogs, birds, and insects. Allow the hedge to grow naturally without excessive trimming, and leave a gap or two at the bottom for hedgehog highways. A dense, varied hedge creates an ideal microhabitat for many creatures, benefiting your garden’s ecosystem as a whole.
How to Safely Check for Hedgehogs Before Gardening
Hedgehogs often take refuge in piles of leaves, logs, or other garden debris, making them vulnerable during gardening activities. Before mowing the lawn or using trimmers, carefully inspect the area for any signs of hedgehog activity. During compost turning or digging, proceed cautiously and check for nests.
For larger piles of debris, gently lift materials with a rake or your hands (wearing durable gloves) to avoid accidentally disturbing or injuring any hidden hedgehogs. If you’re about to light a bonfire, deconstruct it and move the pile to a new location first to ensure no animals are hiding inside. Or hold off on creating the pile until right before you light the bonfire.
By taking these steps, you can prevent harm to hedgehogs while maintaining your garden.
Signs of Hedgehogs in Your Garden
Look for small, black, cylindrical droppings left behind after their foraging. You might also spot hedgehog tracks, which resemble tiny human footprints, in soft soil or mud.
Hedgehogs leave distinctive pathways in the grass or undergrowth as they move through your garden, especially if they are frequent visitors. These trails might appear as narrow, well-trodden paths between hedgerows, under bushes, or across your lawn.
You might also notice small disturbances in your garden beds, such as overturned leaves, shallow digs, or missing slugs, all signs of hedgehogs at work.
If you’ve created a log pile or natural habitat, look for compact, circular nests made of twigs and leaves. When hedgehogs construct nests on their own, they often do it in hidden areas, so carefully check for them in quiet corners of your garden. Regularly inspecting these spots for activity can help you identify whether your efforts to attract hedgehogs have been successful.
When they are active at night, hedgehogs can make surprisingly loud snuffling and grunting sounds as they forage for food or interact with other hedgehogs. These sounds are often mistaken for those of other animals, so keep an ear out for rustling sounds in leaves or undergrowth paired with these unique noises. If you have a trail camera, you can capture footage of their visits to confirm their presence.
If you’ve set up a hedgehog house, check for signs like nesting materials, such as leaves or straw, being dragged inside this indicates that a hedgehog might be using it as a shelter.
It might be more likely you’ll get to observe them directly if you’ve put out a dish of water and have placed a natural food source, such as a woodpile that attracts beetles, worms and slugs, a short distance from a hedgehog house.
How to Make a Water Feature Safe for Hedgehogs
Water features can be both a blessing and a hazard for hedgehogs. To make your garden pond or water feature safe, ensure it has a shallow edge or a ramp that allows them to climb out if they fall in. Hedgehogs can swim, but they need to be able to get out on their own.
Adding stones or bricks along the edges can provide stepping points for smaller animals. If you haven’t made your pond yet, look for designs that don’t have steep sides, to prevent animals from struggling to get out.
Keeping the water clean and free from harmful chemicals is also essential, as hedgehogs may drink from the feature. A well-designed, safe water feature not only benefits hedgehogs but also supports other wildlife in your garden.
Can Hedgehogs Live Alongside Other Wildlife?
Hedgehogs can absolutely coexist peacefully with other wildlife, and creating a garden that caters to multiple species can boost overall biodiversity. Birds, amphibians, and insects often share habitats with hedgehogs, benefiting from similar food sources and shelter.
For example, wildflowers and log piles attract insects, which serve as food for both hedgehogs and birds. Ponds can support frogs and other amphibians, while also providing water for hedgehogs.
To ensure harmony, provide ample space and resources, like nesting boxes and hedges, so that animals aren’t forced into competition. By designing your garden with diverse species in mind, you’ll create a thriving ecosystem that includes hedgehogs as a key part of the balance.
Why Are Hedgehogs Declining in the Wild?
Hedgehogs face numerous challenges that have led to a significant decline in their population. Urbanization and the loss of natural habitats due to housing developments, road construction, and intensive farming practices have drastically reduced the spaces where hedgehogs can forage and nest.
Pesticides and herbicides used in agriculture and gardening further harm their food sources, killing off insects that hedgehogs rely on for sustenance. It’s important for all wildlife that you garden organically and only use natural pest control.
Fences, walls and dense hedges that we like for our own privacy divide the hedgehogs’ territory and limits their ability to roam freely and find mates, which is essential for maintaining genetic diversity. Road traffic is another major threat, with many hedgehogs falling victim to cars during their nightly journeys. Hedgehog highways are necessary for safe travel and expanding their space.
You don’t need to specifically buy or build a hedgehog house to help counter these challenges. All of the small, easy, and inexpensive changes mentioned in this guide can make a big difference, especially in combination with each other.
Common Predators and Threats to Hedgehogs in Gardens
While hedgehogs are hardy creatures, they face several threats even in gardens. Foxes, badgers, and domestic dogs can pose risks to hedgehogs, particularly young or injured ones. To protect hedgehogs, keep dogs supervised and away from known nesting sites.
Commonly used pesticides and slug pellets are another significant threat as they poison hedgehogs, either directly or through contaminated prey. That is, if there even is any prey left in these gardens.
Open drains, ponds with no safety features, or steep-sided containers can also trap hedgehogs, leading to injury or death.
Make sure to create and maintain a safe environment for hedgehogs and all wildlife in your garden at the basic level, considering less obvious hazards you may not have thought of already. That way, following all of the other tips regarding habitats, highways, and natural food sources will attract them to an actual haven.
By creating a hedgehog-friendly garden, you’re not only helping these charming creatures thrive but also enhancing the biodiversity and health of your outdoor space. With hedgehog houses, highways, and natural habitats in place, you’ll soon enjoy the delightful presence of hedgehogs exploring your garden. Share this post to encourage others to make a simple but effective difference for the hedgehog population and enjoy their visits.
