Hedgehog SOS (Save our Spines!)

The hedgehog is the UK’s favourite wild animal but its numbers in recent years have been declining, due in part to the loss of hedgerows in the countryside, suitable garden habitats and an increase in the use of pesticides. Their plight is so great that the hedgehog is now a UK priority list species.

The National Forest Company is working to remedy some of these problems, through habitat creation and its urban strategy to improve green spaces in towns, but on an individual level there is plenty we can do - particularly as the hedgehogs approach hibernation. Try not to use slug pellets - hedgehogs eat the slugs and can be affected by the poison.

• Tie down any netting in the garden – to stop hedgehogs becoming trapped.
• Check compost heaps and bonfires carefully to ensure there are no hedgehogs making a home in them.
• Keep an untidy area of garden available for hedgehogs – they like piles of fallen leaves to nest in.
• If you have a pond in your garden, provide an access point for hedgehogs to use, so they can get in and out of the water easily.
• Leave a gap at the bottom of fences, to allow hedgehogs to move from one garden to another.
• If you need to use a strimmer, check the area for hedgehogs first.
• Do not put bread and milk out for hedgehogs – this can cause diarrhoea. You can, however, feed hedgehogs cat and dog food.

Find out more about hedgehogs at www.hogwatch.org.uk or look at the British Hedgehog Preservation Society’s website at www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk