Devon’s Help a Hog Campaign

In urban areas our parks and green spaces are not enough to sustain hedgehogs. They need a far larger and better connected area to forage in.  Access to habitat such as your garden is crucial for helping urban hedgehogs.  If you could make a 13cm/5inch hole in your gate or fence, and perhaps talk to your neighbour about putting a hole in the boundary between you, then you can make a big difference.

Encouraging insects to your garden is the best food you can provide hedgehogs.  Log piles, long grass, garden compost, nectar rich flowers all encourage worms, beetles, caterpillars, millipedes and earwigs for hedgehogs to munch on.

Our Action for Insects page contains lots of useful information to help you turn your home and garden into insect-friendly havens.

Take Action for Insects 

Providing wet canned dog/cat food (avoid fishy flavours) mixed with crushed dog biscuits is a useful supplement.  Do not put out bread and milk as this makes hedgehogs very ill.

A dish of water or a pond are ideal, as long as there is a way for hedgehogs to get out of ponds. 

A grassy corner, a pile of leaves, a hedgehog home and space under sheds or decking are all spaces that hedgehogs will potentially hide, nest or hibernate.

Download a hedgehog home making guide here

Pesticides
Using slug pellets and pesticides is dangerous for wildlife.  Hedgehogs and other wildlife will be poisoned if they eat insects and slugs/snails that were killed by chemicals.  Encouraging hedgehogs to your garden should help to keep slug and snail populations down.

Netting
Take care not to leave netting or other litter about which could trap hedgehogs.

Strimming
If you’re strimming long grass don’t forget to check for hedgehogs.  If they hear something loud they will naturally curl up rather than run away which leads to many deaths each year.

Bonfires
Check or move any piles for burning before you light to make sure they haven’t attracted a sleepy hedgehog.