Happy Hogging

Our headline Giving Nature a Home activity this month is all about getting Hedgehogs into tiptop condition, through giving them some little handouts to supplement their diet.

And, boy, do they need it, given the calamitous declines they have been going through. The latest estimate is that there are less than a million left (less than one for every 60 of us humans), although getting an accurate count is difficult. My gut feeling is that it is now way under that mark.

But putting out food for Hedgehogs comes with two big problems to overcome.

The first is the stark fact that many of you may not have Hedgehogs visit your garden. I don't currently, which I'm more than sure about as I have a trail camera trained on the paths overnight. Oh, how I'd love to download the images and see something other than fox, fox, another fox, two foxes, oh, and a fox....

If you're like me and aren't visited by Hedgehogs, have you checked how easy it would be for a Hedgehog to get in and out of your garden? If your boundary is solid with fences, then do consider putting in some Hedgehog Highways.In most gardens, it is just a 15 minute job.

But if you do get regular Hogs, or think you might, the next problem is how to put out food that won't be instantly scoffed by cats, dogs, Fox or even Crows and Magpies.

Well, in Giving Nature a Home we've got something that might solve that problem. It's the homemade, under-a-tenner, Blue Peter type contraption, a safe feeding box that Hedgehogs can get into but hopefully little else.

And here is the design knocked up into a 53-second video to guide you.

Our webpage also advises what food to feed, and not to feed. Bread and milk? Nooooooooooo!

Remember, once you've completed the activity, or if you've done it already, do tick it off on your Personal Plan. Haven't made one yet? It'll take you five minutes. Just go here, put in your postcode, answer a couple of questions, create a log in, and up pops your chance to tick off a whole range of activities to add to our totaliser.