CREATE A HEDGEHOG HAVEN
The UK’s hedgehog population is in decline, but you can help protect them with these simple feeding tips from the Woodland Trust
If you’re lucky enough to have a hedgehog visiting your garden, providing food is one of the best ways you can help. This is especially important now autumn is here, as the hogs need to stock up on fat reserves in preparation for their winter hibernation. Luckily, the Woodland Trust has plenty of guidance on what and when you should feed these much-loved mammals.
WHAT DO HEDGEHOGS NATURALLY EAT?
Their main food source is insects and other invertebrates, including beetles, earwigs, caterpillars, earthworms, millipedes and fly larvae.
But they’re also opportunistic eaters, so they’ve been known to eat carrion, fallen fruit and even the eggs of ground-nesting birds. Unfortunately, these aren’t always available, plus invertebrate numbers are declining due to agricultural intensification, so hedgehogs are often faced with a lack of food.
WHAT CAN YOU FEED THEM?
Hedgehogs will readily consume food left out in your garden, to supplement their natural diet. The best foods to provide are meat-based cat or dog food, specially made hedgehog food and cat biscuits. A shallow dish of water can also be a lifeline for hedgehogs, especially during summer. There are, however, several foods you should avoid giving them, including bread, as it has little nutritional value, milk, as hogs are lactose intolerant, and mealworms, as they’re thought to cause health problems when eaten in large quantities.
WHEN SHOULD YOU FEED THEM?
Though you can feed hedgehogs all year round, autumn is a great time to help them build up their fat reserves for winter – especially this year, as the hard ground created by the heatwave will have limited their access to invertebrates. During hibernation, many hedgehogs will wake up and search for food as their fat reserves deplete. Try leaving a bowl of cat biscuits nearby hibernating hogs; if left undercover, it should stay dry and edible for at least a week.