Wilder Hook and its Hedgehogs

Hedgehogs will still be out at night, feeding and looking for places to bed down for the winter. They generally hibernate between December and February but many often don’t go into full hibernation, they will still be out at night from time to time looking for food and water.

Providing food and water

If you are already supplementing their food, please continue to do so. A small shallow bowl of water and a small shallow bowl of kitten kibble needs to be put out each night. Don’t be tempted to over-fill the food as any that is left will have to be binned (hedgehogs will walk over and poo in their food & snails and slugs will crawl over the food, which can lead to disease being passed on to the hedgehogs). If you would like to start, check first that you have hedgehogs in your garden, with the tell-tale poo that they leave (this is small, black, cylindrical and about 5cm long). You don’t have to have a fancy feeder, just a simple box is all you need, as long as the food is put at the very end of the box so that cats do not help themselves.

Providing a house for hibernation

If you have a house for a hedgehog to hibernate in then now is the time to clean it out and prepare it ready for this winter’s hibernating residents. If you don’t have a hedgehog house, it’s not necessary to spend lots of money on one. Many people like to make their own. Even if that is not possible, by dedicating some of your garden to wild, uncultivated spaces you will be providing a safe place for hedgehogs to make their own homes.

The first thing to do is the “stick test” to check whether there is already a hedgehog in there – before dusk, put a stick in the entrance of the house. In the morning check if it has moved. If it hasn’t moved, there is no hedgehog inside and you are free to follow the next steps. If it has moved, leave well alone and try again in about a week’s time.

Using gloves, remove everything from the house – all the old newspaper and hay – and put it in the black bin. Give the whole thing a good wash out with a mild washing-up liquid, then rinse & finally leave it to dry. A lovely sunny autumn day is the perfect time for this task.

Once the house is dry, line the bottom with newspaper (no staples), and then put handfuls and handfuls of new dry meadow hay into the house. By adding it by handfuls you are creating a less dense bedding that a hedgehog can easily crawl into and settle down. Finally put the lid back and put it back in a safe, sheltered space in your garden.

Keeping hedgehogs safe over Bonfire Night

Our most favourite traditions are just around the corner and loved by many. But not so for our wild animals. Unlike other small mammals like mice, voles and shrews, a hedgehog does not run away from danger, instead it curls up in a ball and sits tight. This means that if it has crawled into a stack of wood (ready to be lit for a bonfire) it will curl up into a ball and sit tight even when the bonfire is then lit. IT WON’T RUN AWAY.

The rule is simple, if you are planning to have a bonfire, collect all the materials beforehand and store them off site. Don’t make the bonfire until the afternoon/evening that you intend to light it, making it directly on the ground and never on an existing pile of leaves, as a hedgehog could be hiding underneath. Even then, you will need to check the bonfire very carefully before lighting. If you do discover a hedgehog, wear thick gardening gloves to carefully pick it up and move it well away to a safe place.

Holt Park Tiggywinkles

As well as residents feeding the local hedgehogs, we have two pieces of Parish Council land on the Holt Park estate (opposite the Crooked Billet) which we manage. Both have natural habitats for wildlife and one has a feeder that is looked after daily. If you live nearby and want to share in the joy of protecting these prickly creatures, please get in touch.