A Warm Welcome to a Declining Favourite

Few sights lift the heart quite like a hedgehog snuffling across the lawn at dusk. Yet these endearing creatures have been declining sharply in Britain for decades. The reasons are many: tidier gardens, busier roads, fewer hedgerows and a shortage of the untidy corners they rely on. The encouraging news is that ordinary gardens — including small suburban plots — can offer real sanctuary. You do not need acres of land or expensive equipment. A handful of practical changes, made carefully and kept up through the year, can turn a garden into somewhere a hedgehog can feed, drink, rest and travel safely.

Open Up a Hedgehog Highway

Hedgehogs are restless wanderers. In a single night one may cover a kilometre or more in search of food and mates, and a solid fence line stops them in their tracks. Creating a "hedgehog highway" is the single most useful thing you can do. Simply cut a gap roughly 13 centimetres square at the base of a fence or wall — about the size of a CD case. If the fence sits on a gravel board, lift a short section out rather than cutting the panel itself.

• Site the gap at ground level, with no lip or step to climb.
• Keep it clear of plant pots, bins and overgrown ivy, which quickly block the route.
• Ask neighbours to do the same on their boundaries, so the gaps join up into a genuine network.
• Where a shared fence cannot be touched, a tunnel of two bricks or a short pipe through a border works just as well.

These routes matter most in autumn, when young hedgehogs are dispersing, and in spring, when they are searching for one another after waking.

Water, Food and the Slug Pellet Problem

Hedgehogs are thirsty animals, and a shallow dish of fresh water is a lifeline during hot, dry spells. Use something no more than five centimetres deep and add a few pebbles so that any small creature that tumbles in can climb back out. Refresh it daily.

On the food front, a hedgehog's natural diet of beetles, caterpillars, earthworms and slugs is ideal, so a wildlife-friendly garden that goes easy on chemicals will feed them well. If you do supplement their diet — particularly for a late-autumn youngster trying to put on weight — offer meat-based cat or dog food, not fish-flavoured, or dry kitten biscuits. Never give them bread and milk, which causes serious digestive trouble.

The most important warning concerns slug pellets. These contain poisons that can kill a hedgehog outright or weaken it slowly, and a hedgehog that eats a poisoned slug takes the toxin in too. Please avoid slug pellets entirely and rely instead on beer traps, barrier methods, night-time patrols with a torch, or simply accepting a little damage to your hostas.

Shelter for Cold Spells and Hibernation

A hedgehog house offers genuine shelter, both for a hedgehog woken early from hibernation during a mild spell and for one bedding down for the winter. Purpose-built wooden houses are widely available, or you can build your own from untreated timber.

Position is everything. Put it in a quiet corner, facing away from the prevailing wind, often north-east, and tuck it behind shrubs or against a shed so it feels enclosed. Raise it slightly on bricks to keep damp out, and line it with dry leaves or hay. Once a hedgehog takes up residence, leave it undisturbed between November and March.

You can also simply let nature provide. A log pile, a heap of fallen leaves, a wild corner of long grass or a compost heap all offer warmth and cover, and they cost nothing at all.

Making the Garden Safer

Good intentions can be undone by everyday hazards. A quick check before you start work saves lives.

• Strimmers and mowers: check long grass and under shrubs by hand first, especially in May and June.
• Ponds: always provide a gently sloping edge or a ramp of stones so a hedgehog can climb out. They swim well but tire quickly.
• Netting: replace loose garden netting with rigid mesh, or lift it at least 30 centimetres off the ground so hedgehogs pass underneath rather than becoming tangled.
• Drains and window wells: cover open gullies with mesh, or keep a rough plank in place as an escape route.
• Bonfires: rebuild the pile on the day you plan to light it, and check underneath first. A dozing hedgehog will not move.
• Chemicals: cut back on weedkillers and insecticides, which strip away the insects hedgehogs depend upon.

Knowing When to Step In

Most hedgehogs need nothing from us but space and a little tolerance. Occasionally, though, one needs help. A hedgehog out in broad daylight is usually in trouble, particularly if it is wobbling, lying on its side or visible during winter. Any youngster weighing under about 600 grams in late autumn is unlikely to survive hibernation without support.

If you find one, pop it in a high-sided box lined with a towel, keep it warm and quiet, offer a dish of water and a little cat food, and contact a local hedgehog rescue for advice. Do not be tempted to keep it as a pet; with the right help, it can be returned to the wild where it belongs.

With a gap in the fence, a dish of water and a corner left a little untidy, your garden can play its part in keeping these wonderful creatures part of the British countryside.