Old- with boxes In your garden

Supporting hedgehogs in your garden

Hedgehog safety in your garden

Frequent hedgehog killers

Check before you mow or strim
Hedgehogs sleep in high grass and compost heaps. Strimmers, mowers and garden forks cause awful injuries.

Poisons and chemicals kill hedgehogs
Slug pellets, weed killers, insecticides, rat poison - all can kill hedgehogs. Use alternatives. Learn more

Don't burn a hedgehog!
For any pre-built fire; check before you light it. Hedgehogs will use the branch-pile as a nesting opportunity.

Don't trap hedgehogs

Cover drains, holes and light wells
Hedgehogs easily topple over if they try to explore a hole in the ground. Cover drains with boards, secure basement windows with fencing.

Create hedgehog ladders
If you have different levels to your garden, a hedgehog may fall from one level to the other. Create steps for them to get out (depth: 20cm max)

Secure your pond
Hedgehogs can swim, but they need to be able to climb out if they fall into your pond. Add a ramp or stepping stones. Keep the pond topped up.

Careful with chain fences, netting, litter

Netting and football goals
Any netting has to be hung a foot above ground. Check your veggie patch and hang all netting high! Roll up football goals at night.

Secure chain fences
If your fence has gaps between 5-13cm a hedgehog can get trapped. Secure the lower parts with a fine mesh panel (not netting!)

Remove litter and builder's rubbish
Hedgehogs can get injured by rubbish, and they tend to nest under tarps, in black bin bags, under timber... Don't toss anything out without checking first.

Providing access: Hedgehog Highways

Hedgehogs travel 1-3 miles each night to find food or a mate, often visiting 20-30 gardens.

You can make their life much easier and keep them away from the road by drilling a small hole into your fence, ideally on two or tree sides (13cm square).

Please also talk to your neigbhours and engage them to drill some holes as well - creating a Hedgehog Highway of interconnected gardens.

Rob from Ealing Wildlife groups' Hedgehog Highway team drilling a hole

If you are planning a new fence - you could buy fence elements or concrete boards with ready made hedgehog highway holes.

For wire fences, install a clay tube and layer it with soil or leaves.

Worried about attracting cats or rats to your garden?

Don't worry, if they want to visit your garden they find a way in anyway, climbing over the highest fences...

Garden features to support hedgehogs

Leave a part of your garden wild

Wild corners provide shelter, nesting materials (dry grasses and leaves), and food (insects, earth worms) for hedgehogs.

How to do it:

Choose a shady corner, and just let the grass grow, plant some low growing bushes and native plants
Keep this part a bit humid. In dry weather periods, make sure to water this corner, so that the ground does not fully dry out
You can toss in some old terracotta pots or branches, to make the area more interesting for wildlife. Caution: Nothing sharp
If there is long grass, you may want to cut this once or twice a year, but check before you cut, and only use a high-set mower or hand sheers.

Important:

Tell any family members who may do gardening, and any professional gardeners you employ, to leave this area alone.
If you ever decide to change it; check for sleeping or nesting hedgehogs!

Add some log piles or branches

Thanks to .... for graphics

Log piles provide shelter and nesting opportunities, and they are home to many insects that a hedgehog can eat.

How to do it:

Choose a sheltered position, in an area where there won't be any flooding in heavy rain
Use a few logs or large rocks to create some inner gaps, then loosely toss branches and leaves over it
Make sure that the pile won't easily collapse in a storm, or if a fox jumps on it
If you like, you can build an inner structure of long fire wood pieces, creating a 'living room' of about 40x40cm and a few exit routes. Then add the branches.

Important:

If you add some old timber, that is fine. But make sure that there are no nails, wire-loops, or anything else being attached that could injure or trap a hedgehog.

Arrange garden features to create hedgehog 'runways'

Garden features, such as large flower pots, planters, and even statues can be arranged in a way that they provide a safe 'runway' for hedgehogs. This is also an ideal place to toss a few cat kibbles, if you like to feed hedgehogs

How to do it:

Just move large garden features away from the walls or fences a bit, to create a hedgehog-sized runway
Pots need to be at least 13cm apart so that a hedgehog can fit through.
Don't make the gaps too wide, so foxes can't get there

Add lots of water sources

Putting out water in shallow dishes is likely the one best thing you can do for hedgehogs in your garden.

How to do it:

Use several dishes and put them in sheltered areas of the garden
Keep them clean and the water topped up. Wash and refill them daily.
Water dishes are especially important near your pond, so that the hedgehog is not tempted to try to drink from the pond and fall in

NOTE: We don't recommend feeding hedgehogs in your garden every day of the year, as this can cause a variety of health problems (obesetiy, tartar on teeth, overgrown claws, kidney problems, and the spreading of the new hedgehog virus (Arterivirus). Lean more

Hedgehog Lodges; self-made or bought

If you make or buy a hedgehog house, please note:

Make sure it is the right size:
Place it in a shelthered spot in the shade, with no risk of flooding
Keep it as natural as possible: cover it with leaves or branches
For extra protection from heavy rain or predators, you can put it under a small garden table or add a tarp. Make sure there is airflow, so no risk of mould

Some hedgehog houses are not safe, as they contain wire constructions where the hedgehog can get trapped once the basket dis-integrates. Some have pieces of wire sticking out

Would you like to build a lodge for hogs?

You can find very good instructions on the page of the British Hedgehog Preservation society. Learn more