Helping our hedgehogs
Hedgehog numbers have declined dramatically in recent years but we know they’re in and around Longton Nursery Allotments and have been spotted elsewhere in the Sydenham area. So what can we do to help grow those numbers?
In 1970 there were something like 30m hedgehogs in the UK but it’s estimated there are now under a million, which means they could be critically endangered in just a few decades. This has been blamed, among other things, on overly tidy and lifeless gardens, declining food sources and barriers to movement (hedgehogs can wander 2km-3km a night so need lots of gaps in fences and so on to get about). They’re also at the mercy of dogs and foxes.
Hedgehogs love to feast on beetles, caterpillars, worms and smaller slugs and snails. But they will also feast on dead mammals, such as rats and mice, which can be a problem for the hedgehogs if they’ve been killed with poison.
What can we do to encourage hedgehogs at Longton Nursery?
If you see an underweight, injured or sick hedgehog, find out what to do and who to call at the British Hedgehog Preservation Society or see the details on the noticeboard at the Churchley Road end of the site.
Hedgehogs love to feast on beetles, caterpillars, worms and smaller slugs and snails. But they will also feast on dead mammals, such as rats and mice, which can be a problem for the hedgehogs if they’ve been killed with poison.
What can we do to encourage hedgehogs at Longton Nursery?
- Don’t use slug pellets, use beer traps or other natural ways of dealing with slugs and snails
- Be careful with netting as hedgehogs can get trapped and killed by it. If you’re using netting, put boards around the base and tuck the netting inside
- Before burning rubbish on a bonfire, check it to ensure a hedgehog isn’t sheltering inside
- Put holes in the base of fences, about 13cm x 13cm, so hedgehogs can roam easily, and encourage neighbours to do the same
- Create nesting and feeding spaces but ensure they’re fox proof - and never feed hedgehogs with bread or milk. Instead, use cat or dog food
- See other advice here
If you see an underweight, injured or sick hedgehog, find out what to do and who to call at the British Hedgehog Preservation Society or see the details on the noticeboard at the Churchley Road end of the site.