Hedgehogs

Hedgehogs, Erinaceus europaeus are among the best loved creatures of the English countryside. They are very distinctive and cannot be mistaken for any other creature. Hedgehogs are very common visitors to gardens, even in cities. However they are rarely seen, as they venture out to feed at night. Unfortunately the majority of day sightings are of their remains as roadkills.

Hedgehogs are well worth encouraging into your garden. You do not even have to worry too much how they will get into your garden as they are good climbers and can scale low fencing and will travel for “good pickings”. You may be already be encouraging them without knowing, as they gladly eat cat food, dog food, bread or milk left outside for your pets or birds. When they have discovered that food is being left, they will keep returning for it.

Diet

The hedgehog is a friend of the gardner. They consume many garden pests including slugs, beetles, and caterpillars. As they are night feeders, their primary sense for locating their prey is smell. There is one area where hedgehogs have had a bad press, they will eat bird eggs if they come across them.

Movement

If one disturbs a hedgehog they genenally only slowly scuttle away giving the wrong impression of limited mobility. Hedgehogs can run much faster if required plus they are good climbers and swimmers.

Spines

The spines are the main defence of the hedgehog and number around 5000 on an adult. They are most effective only falling to the the most determined predators which include badgers and foxes, and these hedgehogs are more than likely to be juveniles. Unfortunately there is the higher likehood of death from man via pesticides and the car.

The 20mm spines lie flat against the body when the animal is at ease. The spines only becoming erect as the hedgehog rolls into a ball when threatened. The spines are angled just above their roots. This allows the spines to provide cushioning, if the hedgehog falls from a height the spines are not then pushed back into the body.

Spines are not found on the underside or the face, these parts are covered by coarse hair.

Hibernation

With the advent of autumn, hedgehogs seek a sheltered place where they will carry dry fallen leaves to and construct a dry cosy nest, known as a hibernaculum.

During hibernation their heart beat, body temperature and breathing reduces, putting them into torpor. Thus lessening the “burning up” of the fat reserves built up over the summer. If during the winter there is a warm period they may come out to forage, if you notice a hedgehog in your garden during such spells it is a good time to feed them as it is not the best time to find invertebrates.

Reproduction

This is the only time that these inconspicuous creatures make their presence known. On warm early summer evenings during the mating season hedgehogs may not be seen but they certainly can be heard.

The male (boar) on meeting a female (sow) will go through an unusual courtship display. During the display the hedgehogs are oblivious to the world and one can approach them without them scuttling away. Both repetitively encircle each other making loud grunts. Eventually the mating will take place quite a precarious process with a spined female. To ease this the female lowers herself and flattens her spines. This is the only involvement that the male has in the upbringing of the offspring.

Four weeks after mating the female prepares a nest and then gives birth to up to five “blind” offspring. The offspring have approximately 100 white spines. A female may construct a number of nests in her territory. If you accidentally come across a nest with young do not touch as the mother may abandon or even kill them. Hopefully the mother will just move them to one of the other nests.

The young hedgehogs grow fast, after two weeks adult spines grow and they can now see. After another four weeks they are small versions of the adult and accompany their mother on food forays. Soon after they leave the parent and have to become self sufficient in the rush to put on weight before winter sets in.

Litters born later in the year has dire consequences for the offspring as there is not enough time for the young hedgehogs to build up sufficient reserves for overwintering. The crucial weight required to be met by late autumn, is around a 1lb or 450 grams.

Encouraging Hedgehogs and Making You Garden Hedgehog Friendly

Gardeners have a tendency to use poisons. These coming in the form of pesticides, fungicides and slug pellets. The main problem being that the garden pests the invertebrates are the creatures targeted. These make up the diet of hedgehogs. The toxins involved do not immediately kill the pest, so when hedgehogs feed on these live but contaminated invertebrates they get a small dose of the toxin. This over time can lead to build up of toxins in their body tissues.

In the garden one can reduce the use of toxins as there are alternatives. By employing new technologies as the use of biological controls such as nematodes, or falling back on the old tried and tested methods like beer traps, will reduce the pest population but not to the detriment to the health of hedgehogs.

With the advent of autumn, hedgehogs seek a sheltered place to construct a dry cosy nest, known as a hibernaculum. Unfortunately man made structures such as bonfires and compost heaps meet this criteria, so before lighting a bonfire or sticking a fork into a compost heap it is wise to check.

Other features in the garden can be danger zones for hedgehogs. They are good swimmers but will drown in ponds if there is no way out. Place something in the pond so they can climb out of the pond easily, remember they are good climbers. Bird netting can entangle hedgehogs which then suffer a slow lingering death by starvation.

Hedgehogs require undisturbed sheltered places to construct their nests. Leave such areas if possible.

Whatever you do in the garden to improve it for hedgehogs it will not lessen the greatest danger that they face. This is that many young hedgehogs have not built up enough fat reserves to survive the winter, most starve over their first winter.

Putting food out for hedgehogs will help them to build up their weight. For the liquid, water or goat’s milk  ( but not cows milk ) in a bowl that they can easily drink from but cannot overturn. Hedgehogs will eat bread and dog biscuits but they do relish pet food, if this is put out avoid those that are fish based.

If you help hedgehogs to survive the first winter they could live through another five, reaching a weight of over a kilogram for a male, or 600 grams for a female.

Hedgehogs and their Fleas

Hedgehogs have had a terrible reputation for being flea ridden. This they are, but the flea that afflicts them is a specialist feeder and has evolved to only thrive on hedgehogs. They will hitch a lift and bite a dog or cat, but their body types are not favoured by the fleas, and they soon leave to find a hedgehog host.