[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]It's Hedgehog Awareness Week, so gardeners should do what they can to help these vulnerable animals.
This week is Hedgehog Awareness Week. Hedgehog numbers continue to decline around Britain, and gardeners are being encouraged to help reverse the trend.
“There is so much the gardener can do, and it’s more important than ever,” says Fay Vass, chief executive of the British Hedgehog Preservation Society (BHPS).
Simple ways to help are to ensure that there is a route in and out of your garden (they need a 5in gap), and that any ponds or pools are easy to enter and exit. Take care to move piles of rubbish before burning them, and check before you stick a fork into a compost heap. Reducing your use of pesticides can also help to create a hedgehog-friendly garden.
More proactively, gardeners can dedicate a corner of their garden to the creatures. This area should be left wild, with piles of leaves and organic debris for shelter. You can also provide a shallow dish of fresh water, meat-based pet food or chopped unsalted peanuts.
In addition, you could install a hedgehog home. These can be used as hibernation sites during the winter, or as nesting boxes during the summer.
Hedgehogs are nocturnal, so if you find a hedgehog in the daytime, particularly a hoglet, it may need help. Place it carefully in a warm high-sided box, and consult the BHPS, RSPCA or local vet. Disabled, abandoned or rehabilitated hedgehogs can sometimes be adopted, either for gradual re-release into the wild or to live in a garden.
For more, call 01584 890801 or visit britishhedgehogs.org.uk.
In May, Garden4less (01283 543974) is donating £10 from every Hogilo hedgehog house sold (RRP £40.99), to the BHPS.
Wed May 08, 2013 9:54 am