At a glance
The British hedgehog population has suffered a dramatic decline since the millennium. In the countryside, over half of hedgehogs have been lost since 2000, driven by intensive farming, hedgerow loss and a collapse in the invertebrate populations they depend on. In urban areas the picture is more nuanced – hedgehogs have disappeared from around a third of urban sites, though the 2022 State of Britain’s Hedgehogs report found signs that urban populations may be stabilising in areas where gardens are managed sympathetically. In late 2024 the IUCN upgraded the Western European hedgehog from Least Concern to Near Threatened on its Red List – recognition that the decline is serious enough to require formal conservation attention.
The good news for gardeners is that urban and suburban gardens genuinely matter. Research by PTES and the British Hedgehog Preservation Society consistently shows that gardens with the right features – connected access, foraging habitat, safe food and water, absence of hazards – provide meaningful refuge from the pressures hedgehogs face in the wider landscape. A hedgehog typically travels 1-2km each night in search of food. For that roaming to be possible across a suburban neighbourhood, gardens need to be physically connected. This is the single most impactful change you can make.
Why hedgehog numbers are falling
Understanding the causes of decline helps identify which garden changes make the most practical difference. The pressures on hedgehogs operate at multiple scales – landscape-level agricultural intensification is beyond any individual gardener’s control, but the fragmentation of habitat within neighbourhoods is something gardens can directly address.
Garden access – the hedgehog hole
A hedgehog travelling 1-2km each night needs to move through multiple gardens. Solid close-board fencing between every property in a street creates an effective barrier that fragments the landscape into isolated patches, each too small to provide the food, nesting and foraging variety a hedgehog requires across a season. A single garden, however well managed, is far less valuable to hedgehogs than a connected network of gardens.
The solution is a 13cm x 13cm gap at the base of each fence panel, positioned close to the ground. This is the size recommended by Hedgehog Street, the national conservation initiative run jointly by the People’s Trust for Endangered Species and the British Hedgehog Preservation Society. It is large enough for an adult hedgehog to pass through easily but too small for most dogs. For a wooden close-board fence, a jigsaw or hole saw makes the cut straightforward. For a brick wall, removing a single brick creates the correct access point. For a gravel board at the base of a panel, cutting or removing a section achieves the same result.
Register your hedgehog hole on the Hedgehog Street Big Hedgehog Map. The map at hedgehogstreet.org allows you to log your garden as hedgehog-friendly. This contributes to national research tracking population recovery and helps identify which neighbourhoods are developing connected hedgehog corridors. Talking to neighbours about cutting matching holes multiplies the benefit exponentially – a connected run of ten gardens is far more valuable than ten individual patches.
Creating the right habitat
Most of what hedgehogs need from a garden requires you to do less, not more. The manicured, fully paved or close-mown garden provides almost nothing – no foraging ground, no nesting material, no shelter and often no route through. Allowing small areas of wildness, leaving some of what the tidy garden instinct removes, and reducing or eliminating pesticides creates a garden that supports not just hedgehogs but the entire web of invertebrate life they depend on.
A wild corner of 2m x 2m is enough to make a real difference. Long grass, nettles, bramble and rough vegetation provide both foraging ground and nesting material. A log pile in this corner – old, weathered logs are better than fresh-cut ones as they harbour more invertebrate life – provides shelter, nesting sites and food in one structure. A leaf pile left undisturbed from October through to April may attract a hibernating hedgehog. A small area of dense shrub planting along a fence provides shelter and a sense of security for a species that spends most of its time at ground level in low cover.
Pesticide use is one of the most significant garden-level contributions to hedgehog decline. Pesticides reduce the invertebrate populations – beetles, earthworms, caterpillars, millipedes, earwigs – that make up a hedgehog’s natural diet. Metaldehyde slug pellets were banned in the UK in April 2022 and it is now illegal to sell, supply or use them. Ferric phosphate-based slug pellets are the legal alternative and are wildlife-safe. Going pesticide-free entirely is the most beneficial approach – encouraging natural predators including ground beetles, birds and hedgehogs themselves is a more sustainable long-term approach to pest management than chemical control.
Feeding hedgehogs correctly
Supplementary feeding is not essential for hedgehogs that have access to good natural foraging habitat, but it provides meaningful support during dry spells when earthworms retreat deep underground and invertebrate activity falls. Fresh water, provided in a shallow dish and refreshed daily, is the single most valuable supplementary provision – hedgehogs can travel some distance to find a reliable water source in summer. What you feed matters enormously, as several commonly offered foods are actively harmful.
Stop supplementary feeding in late October. Providing food year-round can discourage hedgehogs from foraging naturally and storing the fat reserves they need for successful hibernation. Feed from April to October to support hedgehogs through the active season, then stop in late autumn so hedgehogs have the incentive to forage intensively and reach hibernation weight under their own steam.
Garden hazards to remove
Garden design and maintenance choices that seem minor to humans can be fatal to hedgehogs. Most of the hazards below can be addressed at no cost and with minimal effort – they require changed behaviour rather than any physical modification of the garden.
Ponds without exit ramps are one of the most significant causes of hedgehog drowning. Hedgehogs can swim but tire quickly and drown if they cannot find a way out. A ramp of chicken wire, rough wood or a piece of natural stone propped against the inside edge of the pond at a gentle angle gives any hedgehog that falls in a reliable way out. The ramp should reach from the water surface to the pond lip and have a rough enough surface to grip wet paws. Any garden pond without a ramp should be considered a hedgehog hazard until one is added.
Garden netting at or near ground level is a serious entanglement risk. Fruit cage netting, football nets and pea netting left trailing on the ground can trap hedgehogs and cause injuries as they panic and spin. Raising all netting at least 30cm from the ground when not actively in use eliminates this hazard. Strimming and mowing in areas of long grass also poses a significant risk – hedgehogs freeze rather than run when threatened, making them invisible in rough grass until a blade reaches them. Walking through long grass with a stick before strimming, and mowing from the outside inward so any hedgehog has a chance to move away, is standard good practice.
Bonfires should never be left built for more than a day before lighting. Hedgehogs investigate bonfire piles as potential hibernation sites and can be concealed inside within hours of the pile being assembled. Building the bonfire on the same day as lighting it removes the risk. If a pile must be assembled in advance, check it thoroughly with a stick and move the base material before lighting – a torch and a careful look underneath is usually enough.
Hedgehog houses
A purpose-built hedgehog house provides a sheltered nesting site that hedgehogs may use for both summer resting and winter hibernation. They work – research and anecdotal records from thousands of UK gardens confirm hedgehogs will use them – but the position matters far more than the design. A basic wooden box in the right location will be used more readily than an elaborate structure poorly sited.
Position the house in a quiet, sheltered corner of the garden with the entrance facing away from prevailing wind and rain. In the UK, south or east-facing entrances work well for most sites. The house should be placed against a wall, fence or hedge rather than in open ground – hedgehogs want a sense of cover around the entrance. Cover the top with fallen leaves or a piece of bark for insulation and camouflage. Leave it completely undisturbed from November to April.
Never check inside a hedgehog house in winter. A hibernating hedgehog disturbed by an inspection uses stored fat reserves to warm up and re-enter hibernation – a process that can be fatal if food is not available. To check for occupation without disturbing a sleeping hedgehog, place a small twig loosely across the entrance at dusk. If it has moved by morning, something has been in or out. If the entrance appears blocked from the inside with leaves, a hedgehog is almost certainly hibernating within.
Seasonal calendar
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