The joy of hedgehogs
- realscotveg
- Oct 16, 2015
- 3 min read
I’m a big fan of all wildlife (well, spiders…) But there’s something quite special about British mammals.
Birds are amazing, and you can see an endless variety of species that change right through the year. But it’s the relative rarity of mammals and the secret nature of their lives that makes seeing them a real treat.
When I was growing up in the city, I actually saw mammals fairly often: foxes on an almost nightly basis, the occasional badger, and squirrels were common enough to be a real pest on the bird feeders.
Now I live in the country, the type of mammals I see has changed a lot. I must have seen two foxes in ten years, and about the same number of badgers. I live on one of the battlegrounds between grey and red squirrels, but seeing either is actually pretty rare, and while pine martens are known in the area, the chance of catching a glimpse is minuscule, even when they’re right on top of you.
Deer I do see, roes and reds, and hares as well, which I’m particularly fond of, loping their way across fields, or playing a deadly game of dodge on the roads. But when it comes to mammals in the garden, then only thing I really knew I had for sure, was mice.
That’s until last year when I discovered the hedgehogs.
Well, this year, I decided to feed them, knowing that hedgehog populations are dropping up and down the country, and wanting to do all I could to support our local hogs. So in the spring, I started to put out some food and water, and before long (I think it was two days) I had a nightly visitor.
They’re surprisingly picky eaters though. They always love mealworms, and they’re rather partial to the RSPB’s hedgehog food. But other types of hedgehog food with crunchy biscuits, they can take or leave depending on their mood, sometimes they’ll eat dog food, and sometimes they won’t, and they seem to be a little bit partial to boiled eggs, though I don’t feed them that very often.
One of the problems is cats, as they’ll happily eat some hedgehog foods, and I don’t put cat food out, as I think that’s just asking for it!
But anyway, I really enjoy feeding my hedgehogs, and it’s a huge treat to have such animals in my garden every night. I’m sure they help to keep down the slugs and snails, and if they make the occasional mess turning over all the wood chip on the paths, I don’t begrudge them it for a moment.
So if you’d like to try feeding your local hogs, here are a few tips to get you started.
Water. It’s very important to put out clean water for your hedgehogs, particularly if you’re feeding them, as some of the foods make them thirsty. I have a bird bath, and a hedgehog drinking dish, but the birds like washing in the tiny dish, and the hedgehog quite often drinks out of the bird bath, so I just let them all get on with it!
Access. Make sure hedgehogs can get in to your garden if you’re trying to feed them. I’ve got open hedges, so no problems there, but if you have a fence, consider cutting a little access hole.
Feeding station. If you have trouble with other animals eating your hedgehog food, make a hedgehog feeding station. Advice here: http://thehedgehog.co.uk/feeding-hedgehogs/how-to-stop-cats-dogs-and-foxes-stealing-the-hedgehogs-food/
Try different foods. In the wild, hedgehogs eat all sorts of things, so don’t give them a boring diet! But remember they’re also picky.
Never feed bread and milk, but we all know that, right?
Dogs. If you have dogs and hedgehogs, don’t let the dogs run around in the garden after dark without supervision, particularly if they’ve got a bit of a hunting instinct. Hedgehogs are quite susceptible to dog attack.
Enjoy your hedgehogs, but try not to disturb them! I leave the light on at my back door to see the hedgehogs, but some of them are shy and don’t like that. I’ve also used a trail cam to get videos. But I don’t think encouraging hedgehogs to get too tame by getting close, is a good idea.
Check your garden for hedgehog hazards! They can get caught in netting, and drown in pools and ponds, and please please don’t use slug pellets!
Be careful when you strim and tidy. Check areas of vegetation before you strim them, just to make sure there are no hedgehogs around. If you’re tidying the garden in the winter, be careful of hibernating hedgehogs, and remember to check any bonfires before you set them on fire.
If you want more advice, try these websites:
Here’s one of my hedgehog videos. Enjoy!
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