To ask you to please help hedgehogs and other wildlife prepare for winter

[Pricklesinperil]

It is literally a lifeline for them as the weather gets warmer.

if you’d like to know about other ways to help, please go to Help hedgehogs

thank you

Note from MNHQ - please do read the Op's latest update (October 2022) before responding.

Mealworms are like crisps to them, tasty but not something to live on.

I put out water and cat food.

Also if you have a pond make sure there is a way for the hog to get out, they can swim but if they are stuck in a pond will drown.

My back door opens directly on to my back garden so I get to see my visitors.

I’d love to try to attract headgehogs. Do they want dishes left in the open or undergrowth (which my tiny garden has loads of )

@DowningStreetParty Thank you for wanting to help hedgehogs! I would try putting the shallow dishes of water in a couple of places at first. Water will be welcomed by lots of other wildlife so definitely won’t go to waste.

As you’re keen to attract hedgehogs, here’s a short video on ten tips to give you some ideas

It’s difficult isn’t it? Wanting to help one species but not wanting to attract others. Do please leave out the shallow dishes of fresh water though, that will really help hedgehogs but won’t encourage other visitors- only seems to be food that does that!

if your garden is hedgehog friendly, then hedgehogs will find their own food in your garden.

thank you for caring

We all have concrete posts etc too but the badgers get through because they bash a gap through - we actually did have a gap in the fence behind our shed but the neighbour filled it in when they moved in. I've never seen a hedgehog where I live now but I think I saw somewhere that where you have badgers you don't have hedgehogs. Other people in our town have them though - we're on the Badger side!

God, I'd love to have badgers close by

Here’s what Hedgehog Street says about helping wildlife to co-exist Hedgehog predators

Could be harming it though...

Really miss having resident hedgehogs! We used to have one that would decimate the slug population in the garden and one wonderful summer we had a small family that would be seen trooping around most nights! Moved to an area that is sadly hedgehog free and will hopefully stay that way as we are too close to a busy road :(

Wow, just going to completely ignore my query about dried cat biscuits being completely unsuitable for wild animals OP?
Also the mealworms research and how it came about. Nobody from any hedgehog rescue has ever answered about either thing.
If you don't have the answer you shouldn't be either promoting it or discouraging it.
I'm guessing someone will get snotty with be though.

I have badgers to no hedghogs. I do leave fresh rain water outside though, for my cats and anything else that wants it - we have one of those water butt things.

Apologies @KarenLovesRosario I missed your question. I’m not an expert, just someone who cares about hedgehogs. I wanted to encourage everyone to think of hedgehogs as they need our help to thrive.

in all my posts, the only thing I’ve asked people to do is to leave out shallow dishes of water. For all other hedgehog help, I’ve been posting links to hedgehog street as they are the experts. This page on their site talks about their diet and what they recommend we feed hedgehogs to supplement their diet Hedgehog diet

you can contact them with specific queries as below. They are always welcoming queries from people who care about hedgehogs

For advice about hedgehog welfare, injuries and illness call 01584 890801
For general enquiries, email [email protected]

I found a little malnourished one on my drive and took him to the local Hedgehog rescue centre. They are this lovely if slightly eccentric couple who have sheds full of recuperating hedgehos including a group of blind ones that will live their lives with them. When my hog was well I was able to bring him home and release him in the garden. They coexist quite happily with my cats and the family of foxes.

Aww I love hedgehogs! Great thread 🦔❤

So glad to hear there was a happy ending for the little hedgehog you found @Hobbesmanc . The armies of hedgehog rescuers up and down the country do a wonderful job and deserve recognition and support.

hoping little Teasel, which @AlanThePig posted about on this thread, has a similar happy outcome

We had a hedgehog in our garden last year - he/she lived under the shed and went out from around midnight to 5am. One night I was getting ready for bed and heard weird sounds coming from the front of the house - really loud and eventually traced them to a hedgehog under my car! Apparently the grunting noises were either having sex or flirting and he/she didn't take kindly to being in the torchlight and shut up! This year we have seen him./her once and put out some hedgehog food on the route we think they take but don't know if its the hog eating it or a rat/cat/pigeon! Will now also put out water.

Only if the sanctuary are requesting them. There was a viral post a few years ago telling people to send mascara wands to a particular bird sanctuary. They were literally begging people to stop sending them, they were getting huge deliveries of mascara wands and had to bin them.

Okay I will! :D

Thanks.

😀I know! The loud noises took me by surprise as well! Hedgehog Street have this page on their website about their habits with a video as well Hedgehog breeding

thank you for putting out fresh water in shallow dishes - it really is a lifesaver

Yes I’ve been doing this a little while now. I use a paint roller tray as it’s shallow enough not to cause anything any problems (I think) and also holds enough to be ok for a couple of nights if I’m away.

The birds love a good bath in it too, so I try to change as often as possible.

Oh and the hog that I’ve been seeing this year is a young one and such a speedy little bugger! No shuffling about for this little one!

Thank you for caring about hedgehogs! If you see one, please log your sighting on Hedgehog Street’s Big hedgehog map

Idea here for a DIY feeding station here if anyone fancies a little project with the kids (or without!) These boxes are under a fiver in BM etc
Just remember to put tape around the hole edges so it's not sharp.

Activity sheet here for kids:

www.childrensgardeningweek.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/NCGW-Activity-Sheets-Hedgehog-station.pdf

Don’t put meal worms out. They are have high risk of salmonella poisoning to hedgehogs as well as the leading cause of bone density disease in hedgehogs being taken in by rescues. Cat food or hedgehog food is much safer and nutrionally sound.

😀happy news @Lonelycrab

if you haven’t already, please log your hog sighting on Hedgehog Street’s Big Hedgehog Map

all the data helps them in their campaign to ensure that hedgehogs remain a common and familiar part of British life