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Hedgehogs, the spiny, nocturnal mammals that we all know and love, are declining in numbers across the UK and are vulnerable to extinction. It may not seem like we can do much living in London, and that they tend to live in more rural areas, but making small changes in our back gardens can really help hedgehog populations recover.
There are 17 species of hedgehog and one, the European hedgehog is found in London and surrounding areas. This species does hibernate over winter, but can be seen remerging around April time. I’ve always tended to picture hedgehogs in meadow like habitats, but actually, their habitat preferences are much broader. These small mammals can survive anywhere from patios, lawns, hedges, herb gardens and ponds. Of course, we have all of these in London, and many of us have at least one of these habitats in our back gardens.
There are a few things that we can do on a very local level, to help support the growth of hedgehog populations. One is to increase habitat connectivity, so that they are able to travel between patches and areas of habitat. There are many ways that we can do this, but the easiest and most useful is having small holes at the bottom of our fences/hedges, so the hogs can travel between gardens really easily. Hedgehogs can easily travel 2km a night, searching for food so ease of movement between habitats is essential for their survival.
Another thing we can do is to directly help them if they are injured or unwell. This needs to be done with great caution as hedgehogs are wild animals, and a protected species. However, there are several hedgehog specialists across the UK that are able to help when a hog is in need. If you need to handle a hog, you should wear some gardening gloves as their spines are sharp. You can provide meaty dog/cat food to them and some water, but not milk as it is too rich for their stomachs. You should contact the The British Hedgehog Preservation Society before any of this, and they would be able to put you in touch with relevant rescue centres if necessary.
It is also really important that we report any hedgehog sightings in London, to the London Wildlife Trust, so that they can collect data on distribution, habitat preference and population numbers, in order to conserve this species.
Not only are these species really cute and charismatic, they also feed on many garden pests such as slugs and beetles, so it helps us to keep them around too!
If you’d like to find out more about how you can help hedgehogs, see the London Wildlife Trust website, where some of the information for this nature note was extracted: https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/what-do-if-you-find-wild-animal/help-hedgehog