Here at the Hogsprickle we try to help orphaned, injured or needy Hoglets and Hogs (as well as other wild casualties) before releasing them back into the wild where they belong. Although, over the years, other species have heard about the B&B here and are creeping in for help too.
The lovable hedgehog has always been a favourite animal of stories like Mrs Tiggywinkle and of course the amazing Sonic but our wild European Hogs don't have superpowers so they rely on kind hearts to help them in their times of need.
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During the summer months a hedgehog can travel on average 2k a night looking for food and the males more, when looking for a female. They can have as many as five different nests so they need to be able to travel between gardens successfully. How about making a wildlife highway between you and your neighbours? A gap in the bottom of the garden hedge fence or wall is enough to let wildlife travel between gardens to look for food and a mate without the need for them to be pushed out onto a road and be in danger of getting killed by cars.
In order for hedgehogs to be happy in their environment, you can help by;
One of the biggest problems to hedgehogs is the lack of natural food. The use of pesticides and weedkillers in gardens are killing off a lot of the hedgehogs natural food, like the worms and beetles that may be affected by chemicals in the soil, and may even cause secondary poisoning such as Hedgehogs, and garden birds, dying of slug pellet poison by eating poisoned slugs (Actually hedgehogs do a much better job of keeping the slug and snail populations down than using slug pellets, which are not at all animal friendly no matter what the packet says!)
Make a feeding station (Google hedgehog feeding station for lots of great ideas). A plastic storage box upside down with a hole about 5 inches square will allow hogs to get in for the food but keep cats and other larger animals out. Put a bowl or 2 of cat food in but keep the water outside, as hogs will walk in and sometimes poop in the water bowl. A couple of heavy bricks on top will stop a bigger animal toppling it over and you have a perfect Hedgehog restaurant. If you use a clear box you can watch your Spiky Butt without disturbing him.
If you have a couple of Spiky Butts visiting you might need a couple of feeding stations as hedgehogs can inflict nasty injuries on each other fighting over food.
Making a hog friendly garden
Create some large log piles that have space underneath for hedgehogs to create a nest.
Leave a large leaf pile in a corner of your garden.
Don't burn garden bonfires, hedgehogs LOVE to sleep in them and eat all the insects that also live in them.
Create a 13cmx13cm hole in your fence so a hedgehog can get easy access.
Leave a small area of your garden to grow wild with some long grass and meadow flowers to encourage insects and to provide appropriate nesting material for all sorts of wildlife.
Why encourage the insects? Because they feed the birds! and birds disperse seeds and eat the plant eating bugs.
Plant some fruit trees and other wild plants and flowers to help support bees, butterflies and other insects.
Plant some hedges, perhaps the type that will provide berries for the birds.
The lovable hedgehog has always been a favourite animal of stories like Mrs Tiggywinkle and of course the amazing Sonic but our wild European Hogs don't have superpowers so they rely on kind hearts to help them in their times of need.
.
During the summer months a hedgehog can travel on average 2k a night looking for food and the males more, when looking for a female. They can have as many as five different nests so they need to be able to travel between gardens successfully. How about making a wildlife highway between you and your neighbours? A gap in the bottom of the garden hedge fence or wall is enough to let wildlife travel between gardens to look for food and a mate without the need for them to be pushed out onto a road and be in danger of getting killed by cars.
In order for hedgehogs to be happy in their environment, you can help by;
- Leaving a wild area in your garden with long meadow grass, covered bushy areas, hedges, log piles with gaps underneath so that they can create a nest and grub for the beetles in the wood. They love large leaf piles where they can dig for food and the decaying leaves are a source of heat in the colder weather.
- Access to fresh water is really important for all wildlife and birds. Make sure the bowls are shallow though or a small hedgehog might fall in trying to get a drink.
- Ponds are also a good place for hedgehogs as they will eat the frogs. They can swim but will drown if there isn't a few places they can get out, so make sure there are stones and gently sloping sides for them to escape should they fall in.
- Hedgehogs don’t have much fur to keep them warm so they slow down in the colder weather. Their natural food also starts to become scarce and the ground makes it difficult to dig up worms and beetles. So they start to build body fat and slow down their metabolism to hibernate through the winter months. You can help by providing a suitable hibernation habitat.
- They need thorny, dense and low lying bushes like a bramble hedge, They also need deciduous trees such as oak and hornbeam.so the leaves, that do not rot easily, will make part of the nest. Their hibernaculums are waterproof and warm if they have been built properly and protect the hedgehog from predators such as rats.
- If you disturb a hibernating hedgehog during the winter months do not put it back unless it is awake. The hedgehog can take several hours to wake up from hibernation and wont be able to remake a good nest. Waking up also uses a lot of fat reserves and supplemented feeding will be needed, or overwintering at The Hogsprickle is the safest option.
One of the biggest problems to hedgehogs is the lack of natural food. The use of pesticides and weedkillers in gardens are killing off a lot of the hedgehogs natural food, like the worms and beetles that may be affected by chemicals in the soil, and may even cause secondary poisoning such as Hedgehogs, and garden birds, dying of slug pellet poison by eating poisoned slugs (Actually hedgehogs do a much better job of keeping the slug and snail populations down than using slug pellets, which are not at all animal friendly no matter what the packet says!)
Make a feeding station (Google hedgehog feeding station for lots of great ideas). A plastic storage box upside down with a hole about 5 inches square will allow hogs to get in for the food but keep cats and other larger animals out. Put a bowl or 2 of cat food in but keep the water outside, as hogs will walk in and sometimes poop in the water bowl. A couple of heavy bricks on top will stop a bigger animal toppling it over and you have a perfect Hedgehog restaurant. If you use a clear box you can watch your Spiky Butt without disturbing him.
If you have a couple of Spiky Butts visiting you might need a couple of feeding stations as hedgehogs can inflict nasty injuries on each other fighting over food.
Making a hog friendly garden
Create some large log piles that have space underneath for hedgehogs to create a nest.
Leave a large leaf pile in a corner of your garden.
Don't burn garden bonfires, hedgehogs LOVE to sleep in them and eat all the insects that also live in them.
Create a 13cmx13cm hole in your fence so a hedgehog can get easy access.
Leave a small area of your garden to grow wild with some long grass and meadow flowers to encourage insects and to provide appropriate nesting material for all sorts of wildlife.
Why encourage the insects? Because they feed the birds! and birds disperse seeds and eat the plant eating bugs.
Plant some fruit trees and other wild plants and flowers to help support bees, butterflies and other insects.
Plant some hedges, perhaps the type that will provide berries for the birds.
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