Barnes is lucky to be a home of choice for hedgehogs – one SW13 garden last year had ten hedgehogs regularly visiting, writes our Hedgehog Champion, Caroline Hird. Whether you’ve spotted one before, or have yet to have that pleasure, there are things we can all do to prepare for the moment they wake up this Spring. Read on to see what you can do to help them, and probably increase the likelihood of seeing one of these wonderful, and increasingly endangered, animals.

Water and Food
Hedgehogs are thirsty and hungry when they awake – they’ve been asleep for months.  From March onwards, leave out clean water – in shallow but heavy-based containers (like one of those ceramic or terracotta plant pot saucers).   And if you do suspect you have a hog nearby, read up on the correct supplementary food for them in the hedgehog advice section of the Barnes Common website provided at the end of this article.

Shelter
Many people want to buy houses for hedgehogs. In reality, hedgehogs usually find their own places to sleep during the day, in sheltered, shady parts of gardens or under sheds, wood etc.
Keep enough undisturbed, informal areas in your garden for hedgehogs to search for the insects they need to eat, and to take shelter.
If you want to do provide more options, there are many hedgehog houses and feeding stations on the market, some of the best being Riverside Woodcraft, or you can find plenty of information about how to make one yourself on the internet. Avoid the ones you often see in garden centres that are made of wicker. They have no base to prevent them becoming damp and rotting, and are not worth the money.

Poisons
Don’t use pesticides, particularly slug pellets, which can kill them, There are plenty of alternatives now to toxic chemicals for your gardens.

Check Before Gardening
Be careful with every gardening activity – check before you move or cut away anything in case a hedgehog is using the space.   If you think one is there, don’t disturb it but monitor it in the early evenings, and make sure you have other areas for it to wander to if you do need to use that space.

Make Ponds Hedgehog-safe
Ponds can be lethal, particularly for young ones, so try to have water areas either appropriately covered, or raised so that hogs would move around them rather than try to cross them.  While escape planks can work, they don’t always find them. Sadly, most hedgehogs drown rather than find a way out.

Make a Simple Garden Highway
Hedgehogs need space to roam  – they can walk up to 2km a night, and are always on the lookout for new food sources, mates and places to hide away as dawn breaks. It’s important to help them to move between our gardens so talk to your neighbours and get together to have small holes made through garden fences and walls (and protect any you already have!) . You can create gaps or tunnels under fences easily, or we may be able to do it for you – see this page for more info.

Just Enjoy 
Hedgehogs are generally awake and moving between dusk and dawn so enjoy watching them and don’t interrupt them.  They are rarely bothered by cats or foxes – most of the risks they face in and near Barnes are from human activity, and badgers.

For more advice, visit our dedicated Hedgehogs page here.