Homes for hedgehogs

Hedgehog health

If you are lucky enough to have hedgehogs in your garden, you will almost certainly get used to seeing them on their regular visits. However, with all wildlife we strongly recommend viewing from a distance and not approaching or picking up your hedgehogs.

However, there are instances where we do recommend intervention. If you see your hedgehog out during the day it’s not always a sign for concern, but definitely something that you should keep an eye on. There are reasons for hedgehogs to be out in daylight, such as females building a nest or foraging for food while the hoglets sleep, or if their nest has been disturbed and they’re forced to find a new place – but these hedgehogs will be active, moving around quickly and will seek shelter rapidly. In these instances, you should monitor their behaviour a bit closer for the next few days.

If you find a Hedgehog that is staggering or wobbling, or a hedgehog lying out in the sun as though sunbathing, this is a cause for concern, as it’s a possible sign of hypothermia caused by illness or injury. Equally, a hedgehog that is lying motionless out in the open or surrounded by flies at any time of the day or night is in distress and needs urgent help.

If you do find a hedgehog in distress, pick it up carefully with a towel or gardening gloves and place it carefully into a box. Keep the hedgehog warm by putting a hot water bottle wrapped in a thick towel underneath, although you should only use hot tap water, not boiling water from a kettle. Just to be sure, check that you can hold the hot water bottle comfortably when it’s wrapped, so that it’s not too hot for your unwell hedgehog. It’s vitally important that the hot water bottle does not get cold and you must make sure that there is room in the box for the hedgehog to move away from the bottle if it gets too hot.

Gently cover the hedgehog with an old towel or fleece to make it feel more secure and offer some meaty cat or dog food and water. Find a quiet place to put the box and then contact a local rescue.

If you find a hoglet it is even more important that you get help quickly. Sometimes hoglets will leave the nest if the mother has been killed and these can even be newborns. In this instance they may be out in the day, squeaking in distress and could even be covered in flies. Using the same instructions as above, place them in a box on top of a covered hot water bottle and cover them in a warm towel. If you find one hoglet, you should always check for their siblings, as there may be more, and you need to get help very quickly, as hoglets can fade fast.

Somerset Wildlife Trust does not have any rehabilitation facilities, so we would recommend using one of the local or national charities who are able to help injured or sick hedgehogs:

Secret World Wildlife Rescue

Thank you for being a hedgehog hero

This is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to actions you can take to protect Somerset’s hedgehogs. See below for some more ideas, and look out for emails from us over the next three months as we share lots of tips, ideas and fun facts about hedgehogs and how you can help the hogs in your garden.