The hedgehog’s natural diet mainly consists of slugs, ground dwelling beetles, snails and worms. However in very dry or cold periods where these are more difficult to find in the garden you can supplement their diet with dried hedgehog food or a meat-based dog food and leave them some water out too. Hedgehogs are lactose intolerant so please do not give them milk as it will give them an upset stomach and may cause dehydration. You can buy readymade hedgehog food from a number of places but if you would like to make your own, below is a recipe approved by People’s Trust for Endangered Species and British Hedgehog Preservation Society.
Ingredients:
•A handful of unsalted peanuts- chopped or crushed
•A handful of sunflower hearts
•A small handful of dried meal worms
•A sprinkling of sultanas and/or dried banana
Mix well, place in a shallow dish and put in a sheltered area of your garden just after sunset.
To avoid the food you put out being eaten by pets or foxes you could make a feeding station that is difficult for anything larger than a hedgehog to access. The easiest way is to place a paving slab on some bricks leaving a gap between two of the bricks as an entrance hole and put the dish in the middle underneath the paving slab.
Sat May 05, 2012 12:39 pm
