I was only recently thinking that it has been years since I saw a hedgehog, and then the other day I read that, sadly, their numbers have dropped rapidly - there were 56 million of them in 1950 but only one million today. That's an extraordinary decline. I think it would be so sad if the cute little hedgehog died out.
Does anyone know what we can do about this? For example, how do you make your garden more hedgehog-friendly? How do you lure them to your garden and provide a safe area for them?
I really want to do all I can to save the hedgehog.

Would imagine these are the people to ask http://www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk/

Personally although I love them I won't be encouraging them into the communal gardens here as they carry so many fleas ! Since the last hoggie died here (natural causes) my use of flea sprays etc has lessened to once or twice a year at most.

Get rid of decking, leave a gap in your garden fence so hedgehogs can move freely from one place to another, dont have such pristine gardens leave wild areas which will help other wildlife too.

Only last saturday we saw one come around from the side of the house! So we have been feeding it tinned dog food for the last week and hopefully it is the hedgehog eating it and not the fox!

We do live semi rural and have gaps under the fence leading on to the fields, so perhaps this helps.

Hedgehogs are cute.
unfortunately there isn't much that can be done in my garden to help them. The area where I live is full of houses everywhere you look.

Is it only a sad thing when cute animals die out?

hedgehog fleas are host specific, they can only live on hedgehogs....can't say my dogs have ever really been bothered by hedgehog fleas. there's a little bit on it here and lots more on google.

http://www.sttiggywinkles.org.uk/hedgehogs.html

Must just be a coincidence then, still won't be encouraging them, we have some nasty types living here now and I couldn't take the guilt if they harmed one.

In nature, nothing happens in isolation. There are always knock-on effects when things change. At least in part, the increase in the badger population is likely to be a problem.

Then there are various pesticides (slug pellets etc) that are applied to gardens which hedgehogs (and other animals) can ingest either first or second-hand. If these pesticides don't kill a hedghog (or bird or small mammals) they can affect the animals' health causing shorter lives, less effective immune systems, smaller, less healthy litters, infertility, etc. With a less healthy hedgehog, this can mean they aren't fit enough to reach hibernation weight so can't survive a long winter.

People are often under the impression that hedgehogs' main diet comprises snails and slugs - it isn't and shouldn't be. Hedgehogs would naturally eat a high proportion of beetles, spiders, earthworms... slugs and snails are actually a bad choice for hedgehogs because they are a carrier for the lungworm parasite which can then infect the hedgehog and kill it.

There's a useful diet link here...

...then, if you want to encourage hedgehogs into the garden, first get yourself a hedge and then make your gardening style one of 'minimal intervention' so that there is plenty of natural food - insects etc - for the hedgehog. Providing winter accommodation can also be good.

I have raised decking on a slope (so gap underneath widens from about 8" - 3ft).

"My" hog over-winters under there.

And I love the excuse to leave some of the garden scruffy.

It's really sad that hogs are on the decline and sadly I do think they will die out within my lifetime.

If you want hogs to visit, make sure they have access into your garden, fences have a lot to answer for as hogs cant get over these, hedges are much more to their liking. Have a few shrubs in the garden where the hogs can take refuge if feeling threatened. Alot of gardens these days are so manicured, hogs prefer wild gardens with places to shelter (stacks of logs are good). Strimmers are not hedgehog friendly - the injuries these inflict are hideous

I have a hog feeder in my garden, its great as the cats cant get into it because of the internal tunnel, each night I put dog food and cat biscuits in a bowl, next morning its all gone. Remember to put a bowl of fresh water out, hogs drink LOADS!!

I also have a hedgehog house loacted under a shrub - over winter I had a visitor lodging

I think you will be able to tell that I adore hedgehogs and anything to encourage and help them is fine by me

I understand how you feel, i try to help and i care, but the neighbours get psychotic over obsessively trimming and strimming their gardens that it makes me cringe when i hear it in case there are any hedgehogs left, and they also use slug pellets and other chemicals. When spring comes you can guarantee the obsessive strimmer-wielders will be out in full force even though their gardens dont need strimming and trimming for the 4th time in one week

Here are some petitions, some of them really need a boost in the number of signatures:

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/sto...nd-lawnmowers/

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/174/9...ing-hedgehogs/

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/252/1...ins-hedgehogs/

I hate the sound of those strimmer's starting up One bloke told me once "dont worry love it they will run away" errr no you muppet, they roll into a ball when scared

On the plus side my hedgie lodgers are getting huge now, really must cut down on portion size!

Oh yeah thats the thing, and i would hate to think how much of the hedgehog decline is due to careless people with their careless use of lethal gardening tools

The sound of them must be very frightening, the sound doesnt bother me personally even though some of my neighbours are really obsessive with the strimmers, but it concerns me for the safety of hedgehogs and makes me wince when i imagine there to be a hedgehog in the undergrowth.

You are so lucky to still have them, there are none left near me i dont think

Do you have a hedgehog house and stuff like that?

Hedgies were regular visitors to my garden, used to leave them a big bowl of meaty leftovers in, and meany a night caught hedgie inside the bowl scoffing him/herself!! But none for years *cry* and I'm gonna have to put my name forward to look after injured ones after the local centre has fixed them.

Really sad loss.

What a shame. Do you have an idea of why there's none left?

I have read it could be as simple as someone putting up a new fence and not leaving a little gap in the bottom which would block their access

Stop using slug pellets and pesticides, that is what killed my annual visitors that hibernated under my shed.

Interesting you should say that, the back fence between us and the neighbour has been re-done (used to have holes in that the cats (yes, you Tigger) could squeeze through, but that was done up recently. But the front is wide open, and it was easy for Hedgie to wander up our gently sloping drive to reach the goodies at the back (no gate) and plenty of foliage (still is) for it to hide in.
Next door on the other side had a pond with lots of lovely froggies and toadies in, but the new ones have done away with that so we have homeless toads. So I'm letting a wee corner of the garden go wildscape and put a large bowl in there so water gathers so the animals can have a proper drink and froggy can have somewhere to swim.

How did you find out it had killed them?

I wish people wouldent use it. A lot of people are so disconnected from wildlife. Some of my neighbours use them

They say that you only need to make 5 inch gaps for hedgehogs to get through. Not sure if a cat can get through that lol.

You're lucky to have frogs! I used to get loads, and i havent seen any for a long time

I do have a hog house that I've placed under a large shrub, I can see that leaves and other things have been taken in as it sticks out of the door a bit.

I also bought a hog feeder from a chap who looks after them, its brilliant!! if anyone wants the link let me know.

Last night there were two hogs on my patio, huffing away at each other

To entice hogs to my garden I just make sure I have a supply of food and water all year round - they are not daft and will keep going back to where they can get an easy meal.

My issue with longer grass, cat sh*t.

My mother has a side gate into her garden which had a hole cut in it, primarily to making it easier for her elderly cat to wander from the front garden to the back, as well as the stray tom who lives in the shed. As a result of this the hedghogs also found their way into the back garden. She keeps a bowl of water in the front garden, and a bowl of water in the back along with a bowl of cat food. The cat food needs replenishing as Tom/cat and one or two of his entourage often pop by for a feed. And she makes sure that there are some iams left there for overnight. We have a female that has been coming for years, and we believe she lives in a sealed off part of the garden which is safe from mowers and strimmers. There is a large male who appears from time to time, and last month l saw the female with a baby in tow tucking into the food.

I have a hedgehog visitor, Just when i thought there were none left, being happy was an understatement when i discovered it

Its a great idea that you are letting a corner go wild.

Some might turn up. Dont give up

Also if you see certain droppings in your garden its a telltale reassuring sign of hedgehogs presence

Do they share the Iams cat food with the cats?

I have a feeding station so the hedgehogs can eat in private without their food being nicked by other animals. Im just waiting patiently for the new visitor to tuck in now