This week is Hedgehog Awareness Week!
David Tipling (rspb-images.com)
It’s organised by the British Hedgehog Preservation Society to raise awareness of Hedgehogs and their behaviour, the difficulties they face and how we can help.
Last night, I could hear some rather loud huffing and puffing from my neighbour’s garden here in Suffolk and after a bit of research, concluded that this was the hedgehog mating ritual in full swing!
There’s an interesting clip from BBC’s “Life of Mammals” series with David Attenborough about the Hedgehogs in his garden at the time with huffing noises of the mating ritual here: Hedgehog mating rituals. BBC Life of Mammals.
Hedgehogs can be commonly seen in gardens in both rural and urban areas as long as they have adequate food, water, shelter and the means to roam freely; they can cover 1 - 2 miles a night foraging for food.
Meaty cat food and a shallow dish of water can attract Hedgehogs to your garden… and maybe some cats too! Generally, cats aren’t a problem for hedgehogs as they’re too big to be “caught”, the cat is usually more curious but if you want to save the food for the hedgehogs, it’s best to put it in a plastic or wooden box with a CD sized hole cut- just too small for cat to squeeze through.
Dogs can attack hedgehogs so it’s best to keep them away.
There are lots more tips on what to do in gardens to help hedgehogs this week on this link from Hedgehog Street:Helping Hedgehogs It includes tips like cutting CD sized holes in fences for hedgehog travel, moving waste piles before burning and checking long grasses before strimming.
For us gardeners, the plants that are particularly beneficial provide food for the caterpillars that hedgehogs love. Some good examples are Blackthorn and Hawthorn, Comfrey, Circium, Dog Rose, Honeysuckles and Woodruff and there are more ideas from the RSPB here: Plants that Catarpillars love.
So this week in particular, it’s worth popping out when it’s dark to see what you might find… or hear!
Nancy Brown, RSPB Volunteer.