HELP HIBERNATING HEDGEHOGS

Hedgehogs and hibernation:

If you are lucky enough to have a hedgehog or two visit your garden, here are a few things you can do to help them prepare for hibernation.

Hibernation:

Hibernation is a state similar to deep sleep. Their metabolism slows right down to conserve energy. Fat and body fluid reserves (which have been built up and stored) are slowly released throughout the cold months ahead.Hedgehogs along with some other creatures, hibernate during the winter months. This is because the food they normally eat, such as: caterpillars, beetles, worms, other invertebrates, frogs, eggs, carrion, mushrooms and berries, are in short supply during that time of year. If some animals did not hibernate through hard times, they would simply die.

Hedgehogs usually hibernate during November, depending on how mild the weather is, and emerge between March or April. A healthy hedgehog should weigh around 500g or over to be able to hibernate successfully over winter.

Hedgehogs will usually find somewhere warm and quiet to bed down until the spring. This could be in a compost heap, a pile of old leaves, in a wood pile or a specially made hedgehog house.

These can be made very easily and at little or no cost. If you decide to make a hedgehog House rather than buying one, please make sure that the wood you use is untreated. This can be very toxic to hedgehogs.

Hedgehogs have an amazing sense of smell. They spend most of the night sniffing and snuffling their way from garden to garden in search of food. It won’t take them long to find any tasty treats you put out for them. Hedgehogs will happily chomp down on a selection of food that you provide for them:

Cat food (no fish varieties)
Dog food (no fish varieties)
Specially formulated hedgehog food (Spike’s Dinner)
Chopped chicken
Dry Weetabix
Mealworm
Cat or dog biscuits
Boiled egg (mashed)
Suet pellets
Digestive biscuits
Sunflower hearts
Banana (sliced)
Sultanas
Kibble or peanuts (unsalted)
It is very important to provide fresh, clean water every night for hedgehogs.

Important points to remember:

Please remember hedgehogs DO NOT drink milk, it gives them diarrhoea and dehydrates them very quickly.

Hedgehog fleas are host specific, that is they will not jump all over your pets and bite them.

Please look out for hedgehogs when you are using strimmers and other gardening tools.

Remove netting after use, so that hedgehogs do not become tangled in them.

NEVER use chemicals designed for pets on wildlife such as, flea spray, leave that to the professionals.

If you have any worries about hedgehogs for example: if one is seen during the day or has an injury, please contact a professional organisation for advice, such as the BHPS or similar wildlife organisation.

Happy Hogging ♥