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.

Bumping again to reach as many as possible. It’s been brilliant to have people posting on this thread saying they’ve been helping hedgehogs. Thank you!

I've been feeding them and putting water out for two years now. A wildlife cam picked one up in may 2020 so we started buying food, water bowls and hedgehog houses 😀

We had three regulars last year. This year has been a bit quieter but there were two at the same time last night.

We also have an occasional fox, at least 4 squirrels and armies of squirrels and pigeons.

We have holes in the walls on each side to make a hedgehog highway and we have a small dog bowl out all year round full of water.
We tend to feed at certain times of the year with cat food.

Thank you @CirreltheSquirrel and @MrsPnut. Lovely to hear about how you’re helping hedgehogs 🦔

if you haven’t already, would you please log your hedgehog sightings and hedgehog highways on the Hedgehog Street Big Hedgehog Map. All the data really helps their campaign

I’m not in the UK, but we also put out food snd water for them every year. We usually have a family of 1 mother and 2 babies, the same time every night. Somehow my old cat has become friends with them. She goes out to the hedge the same time every night when they usually turn up. And then she runs up to them to say hello, and basically sit and watch up into the sky ready to scare away birds so that the birds don’t eat their food. This started last year when I put out food and the birds started to pick on the mummy hedgehog. Same thing every night all summer. My cat is a good girl.

Those cheap shoe trays are excellent for water for hedgehogs.

We have fences all around our garden but in early 2020 I made a tunnel under one of them. We also put a hedgehog igloo in a quiet corner and water and food.

I got a wildlife camera so we could see if we had visitors. Fir a few weeks nothing but then along came a hedgehog who became a regular.

Since then we have had hedgehogs every year. This spring we had two regular visitors, though only once at the same time. I can tell them apart because one is very cautious and shy and the other seems very confident and comes charging invat speed!

They do like a drink too.

👏

👏

@DogOnBlanket thats so interesting, and another lovely story about hedgehogs and a cat.

Are you in Europe? I keep forgetting that hedgehogs are more widespread than the Uk. Are they brown hedgehogs?

Awww I love hedgehogs but we just don't see them round here anymore. Such a shame as they were everywhere when I was a kid. I think the only ones my kids have seen are run over ones 😭

I feed the foxes each night so there's always plenty of food out if they want it and the ground bird bath is always full of water. We also made a hedgehog house a couple of winters ago but I don't think we had any takers.
Shame.

@RichardOsmansXraySpecs it is a shame. That’s exactly why Hedgehog Street launched their campaign. They wanted to ensure hedgehogs remain a common and familiar part of British life.

would you like to try entering your postcode on the hedgehog map to see if there’s been any sightings in your neighbourhood? Big hedgehog map

Oh there have been 3 sightings fairly near, probably about a 5-10 minute walk away.

How can I encourage/feed the hedgehogs without the foxes/local cats eating it?

My housemate saw ours last night!! Apparently it scuttled under my car at around 1.30am closely watched by our neighbours cat!

@RichardOsmansXraySpecs Exciting news that hedgehogs have been sighted near you. Here’s the Hedgehog Street’s video with tips to encourage them -

Also, please consider becoming a hedgehog champion! Lots of free resources Become a hedgehog champion

do post back if you attract a hedgehog!

Mealworms are high in phosphates which leech calcium out of bones causing them to get brittle and break. They also have little nutritional value. Hedgehogs love mealworms so will gorge on these leading to a risk of bone problems, and feeling full so they don’t eat more nutritious food.

Specialist hedgehog food is often high in cereal content and low in protein (10% odd). It’s protein that hogs need most. Supermarket own brand kitten food often contains around 30% protein, hence its recommended over specialist food (which is marketed at people’s warm and fuzzy feelings and carries a high profit margin…)

When you feed hogs dried food, their diet isn’t usually exclusively dry… it’s one of many food sources. If you choose the right one the nutritional benefit outweighs any health risk.

HTH.

@RichardOsmansXraySpecs forgot to add the Hedgehog Street link for feeding hedgehogs to answer your actual question - Hedgehog Street feeding hedgehogs

Thanks @Pricklesinperil I'll take a look and hopefully have some luck getting some to visit 🤞

On BBC2 now, the RHS Chelsea Flower Show episode is focusing on how to turn gardens into a haven for wildlife

Yes, l have been doing this for years, always had at least one hedgehog in the garden, l leave catfood out as well, which does attract lots of cats, but l am a lover of all animals. We also leave gaps in fences so they can wander between gardens.
Never use any chemicals, hedgehog does an excellent job re slugs and snails.
Its surprising how many birds drink also from the water bowl on the ground even though l have at least three tall birdbaths in the garden.

I often see a hedgehog in my garden. I will definitely do this

Yippee a hedgehog sighting! 🦔. Love the cat observation. We’ve seen from other posters that cats seem most interested or should that be curious? 😀

if you haven’t already, please log your hedgehog sighting. Hedgehog Street Big MapAll the data helps the campaign to keep hedgehogs a common and familiar part of British life

Thanks for sharing @Christienne . your wise words echo what Hedgehog Street say about feeding hedgehogs Feeding hedgehogs

Thank you for helping hedgehogs as well as other wildlife @Moonface123 (sensing a fellow Enid Blyton fan)

if you haven’t already, please log your hedgehog sighting here Big hedgehog map
All the stuff really helps the Hedgehog Street campaign 🦔

Thank you @Blowyourowntrumpet leaving out shallow dishes of fresh water each night is a real lifeline for hedgehogs

if you haven’t already, please log your hedgehog sighting here Big hedgehog map
All the data really helps the Hedgehog Street campaign 🦔