4 – 10 May 2025 – Hedgehog Awareness Week
Yes it’s that time of year again for hedgehogs. This years campaign is called Give Hedgehogs The Edge! by encouraging people and organizations to make the edges of their gardens and green spaces from parks, businesses, to schools more wildlife friendly.
How to Create a Hedgehog-Friendly Environment
Try these wildlife-friendly ways help hedgehogs:
- Provide fresh clean water – Water is always vital and can be difficult to find. All wildlife benefit from clean water, to allow hedgehogs to access it, place the water in a shallow bowl or bird bath on the ground, you could even add some pebbles for insects to be able to drink or buy a specially made bath for all wildlife to benefit.
- If you already have a pond – to make it extra wildlife friendly, including hedgehogs, make sure there are shallow areas and other places where they can get out if they fall in. If your pond has deep sides a grid ramp can help birds and mammals to escape.
- Go a little more wild around the edges – Leave a few little piles of logs or leaves, or even bricks around the edges. You could even sow some wildflower seeds for hedgehogs and other wildlife to use for shelter. If you are strimming, cutting back or tidying up in these areas, do make sure you check for wildlife before doing any work as strimmers and other told can cause awful and even fatal injuries.
- Add a hedgehog highway – Lots of fences are now very sturdy and don’t alow for gaps which prevents hedgehogs and other wildlife moving around. A 13cm x 13cm gap in the base of walls and fences allow hedgehogs to move around naturally and find all they need to survive. If you provide a hedgehog highway you can put it onto the Big Hedgehog Map.
- Put litter in the bin – All sorts of rubbish ends up in gardens and greenspaces and it can be really harmful to wildlife. Get involved in a litter pick in your greenspaces and your own garden.
- Stop using pesticides – Pesticides don’t just kill unwanted garden visitors, try alternative methods like companion planting, sacrificial plants, and boosting plant health so they can fight off insect attacks.
- Reduce or tidy up netting – Netting can trap hedgehogs and birds very easily. Make sure garden and sports nets are put away and garden netting is raised 30cm off the ground so hedgehogs can safely pass under. Always inspect any netting daily to make sure nothing is tangled up.
- Encourage natural hedgehog foods – We are often told that hedgehogs scoff a lot of slugs, well they do but they really adore earthworms, beetles, earwigs, milipedes, and caterpillars which make up a lot of a hedgehogs diet. Wildlife gardening helps encourage more of these invertebrates in your garden.