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A day with a Hedgehog

Looking after a small Hedgehog

By Rowena Jay

I found a Hedgehog in a rather dangerous position, lying in the road beside my car. At first I thought he was dead but fortunately a very gentle touch of the spines and subsequent twitch from him proved me wrong. I fetched a large cardboard box from the house and put on my gardening gloves. I gently picked him up and placed him in the box and temporarily placed him in my lounge. This was only to keep an eye on him for the first few hours in case he was injured in any way. During this time he woke only once and was very shaky on his feet and had a tendency to go round in circles but he soon settled down to sleep once more.

He awoke a few hours later and this time proceeded to eat a small plate of cat food that I had placed in the box with a shallow dish of rainwater. I immediately collected three slugs from the garden and these were devoured with relish. Never feed Hedgehogs with bread and milk as it upsets their stomachs, it is only an old-wives tale. I noticed as he was walking around the box he was now very steady on his feet and at times he was even peering over the edge at me.

Moving outside

I then placed the box on my patio in the garden, which is partly shaded and enclosed on three sides; the fourth side opening out to the rest of the garden. The box was in a slightly tilted position so as to allow him to climb out safely when he felt ready to do so.

Within five or ten minutes he climbed out and explored the patio a little before settling down for another sleep under some shrubs in an adjacent border.

I provided a large but fairly shallow bowl of rainwater in case he woke up and was thirsty. In the bowl I built a ramp of rocks so that if he did have an accident and fell in he could climb out. Although Hedgehogs are good swimmers many die from drowning in garden ponds because such escape routes are not provided.

I checked on him at regular intervals through out the afternoon but I did not really expect him to wake until the evening or dusk when it would be his natural feeding time.

Waking up

It was late evening when he was fully awake, running around the patio and up and down the garden path; I thought he would continue to the bottom of the garden, which I leave a little wild to encourage the wildlife. Instead he turned round and came back towards me and climbed the backdoor steps. This gave me the opportunity to offer him another plate of cat food, which he readily accepted.

I took the first photograph using the flash very tentatively to make absolutely sure that I did not frighten him. I may be a wildlife photographer but always the animal's welfare comes before my photographs. Fortunately he did not mind at all and just carried on eating.

Finally, he finished his meal and hurried down the garden path, it was sad to see him go but I was happy that he left well rested and very well fed.

I continued to check each evening to see if he would return as one summer I had a Hedgehog that returned each evening at 9pm on the dot for his meal of cat food.

Generally, it is best not to interfere with wildlife too much but if you are worried about a Hedgehog contact the BHPS (British Hedgehog Preservation Society), of which I am a life member.

All about Hedgehogs

European Hedgehog Erinaceus europaeus
Order:  Insectivora
Family:  Erinaceidae

The Hedgehog can be found most often on the fringes of woodland, urban wasteland, parks, gardens, playing fields and sports grounds. They hunt after dark for earthworms, millipedes, earwigs, beetles, caterpillars and slugs. They will raid the nests of mice eating the newborn young, clear up dead animals and in the autumn soft fruit. They also take eggs, swallowing smaller ones whole but they have to smash hen's eggs before eating them.

They mate between April and August and usually four or five, though sometimes seven, young are born with soft spines after 32 days. The young are blind until they are two weeks old. After about four weeks they will be taken out for their first foraging trip and about 10 days later the family will separate; the hedgehog is a solitary creature. They will grow to a length between 20-30cm and to an average weight of 700g.

During the day they sleep in a temporary nest of dead leaves at the bottom of hedges or similar places. After spending the autumn feeding as much as possible they build a thick nest of leaves and grass in which to hibernate for the winter. During this time they live off their body fat, their temperature drops to 10°C or lower and their heartbeat slows to fewer than 20 beats per minute. On warm days they may wake to forage but will return to their nest as soon as it starts to become cold once more.

This article and photography has been published several times and is used by wildlife trusts for their exhibitions talks etc.

Copyright © Rowena Jay