Hedgehog Awareness Week runs from 2nd – 8th May this year and it aims to raise the profile of the Britain’s only spiny mammal.
This year people are being asked to create their very own hedgehog haven! Gardens are a stronghold for hedgehogs, and we can make their lives so much easier with very little effort!
There are many things we can all do to help hedgehogs; here are just a few:
– Make sure hedgehogs can access your garden with a ‘Hedgehog Highway’ a 5” x 5” (13 x 13cm) square gap in the bottom of fences or walls should do it! Once created you can log these on the BIG Hedgehog Map at Big Hedgehog Map
– Create a log pile that will offer shelter and natural food.
– Build a Hedgehog Home (see plans at BHPS Hedgehog Homes).
– Move piles of rubbish to a new site on the day you are burning it and check it carefully before setting light to it, lighting from only one side so that there’s an escape route should you have missed anything.
– Check areas carefully before mowing or strimming.
– Ensure netting is kept at a height that allows hedgehogs to pass safely under it.
– Check compost heaps carefully before digging the fork in.
– Stop using pesticides and poisons.
– Cover drains or deep holes.
– Ensure there is an easy route out of ponds & pools.
These are all simple things, but can make so much difference.
