Hedgehog visitor

I once saw hedgehogs quite frequently in and around my garden but I have not seen one for many year (just the occasional road casualty).

So I was really pleased to see this hedgehog on our front garden last night. It was sitting in the lawn looking towards the house.

My wife took out some cat food and the hedgehog came over a eat some of the cat food before heading off into the over-gown flower border in search of some tasty invertebrates.

Hedgehogs have declined drastically and while the exact reason is unknown intensification of agriculture, roads, pesticides and tidy gardens may all play a part. As with many species declines its often a mixture causes.

Connectivity of habitats is also important, even more so for hedgehogs as they may roam 1-2 km in a single night. Our neighbours have had a hedgehog family in their garden for a while. After 8 weeks the young are left to fend for themselves and this is likely to be one of the young hogs.

If you put food out, hedgehogs tend to visit for a top up and still feed on the natural food - so its not a problem. Avoid fish based catfoods as it can give hedgehogs diarrhoea. You can also add meal worm and other tasty treats as hedgehogs are omnivores. You can also provide a bowl of water as drinking water is often hard to find.

While hedgehogs can swim well, if they fall in a swimming pool or raised pond with no area to climb out, a hedgehog will eventually become exhausted and drown. An untidy overgrown area is also perfect for a hedgehog to visit on its travels.