Invite Hedgehogs into Your Garden
Hedgehogs are a gardener’s best friend as they eat caterpillars, beetles, slugs, and other critters that just love to cause havoc with your plants.
We have always wanted hedgehogs in our garden and didn’t think that there were any that roamed near us.
This wasn’t the case when I spotted one walking up the lane behind the house one night. The problem wasn’t a lack of hedgehogs. It was the boundary of our garden which has wooden fencing. When I took a real good look wasn’t exactly inviting for our spiky friends.
It was only when we upgraded the garden fence and purposely left enough space for them to get in that we were rewarded. Within a couple of days a visit of not just one but two of the delightful creatures.
Our first visitors were really entertaining. It was a full moon and the two hedgehogs were making a hell of a racket Either romancing or males warding each other off! There appeared to be a full-blown scrap going on under a large bush but then it calmed down and one stayed and did a full survey of the garden.
Since then we have regular visits and it really was worth putting in a bit of effort to give them free access.
When you think about it we have invaded their space. Hedgehogs are native to the UK and we humans have fenced, bricked, and concreted their natural habitat away. Vehicles on roads have decimated the population as they crossroads to find food and new territory. We owe it to the hedgehog population to give back some of their habitat and it is quite easy. Just give them an opening to your garden and they will visit. If you can work with your neighbors and they agree you could create quite a large area, joining gardens with access between property fences and bushes.
Two weeks ago my wife saw an Instagram post about hedgehog houses that give our prickly friends a nice comfy hotel to snooze in over the winter months.
As ordered by the queen of the garden I duly ‘paypaled’ my way through the online purchase. A few days later this arrived…
- Hedgehog House
- Food bowl
- Water bowl
- Hedgehog food in a can
- Hedgehog food pellets
- Mag of hay
- Hedgehog guide book
Very nice I thought…Mrs Tiggywinkle will be better fed than me!
The next move was to get ‘Gruntly Snuffles’ and his wife to visit this valuable piece of hedgehog real estate. Easy you would think? I put the luxurious log cabin under a bush in the garden, placed food and drink and soft hay bedding in the house. all was set.
Then it rained…and it rained. I wondered if Mr snuffles would perhaps turn the house upside down and use it as a boat as it rained that bad!
Then it stopped and he turned up…ate the food and left and we have not seen him since. Perhaps he has moved in when we weren’t looking. Perhaps he will return. Hopefully, the new real estate will provide them with a hotel over winter and at worst they will have been well fed…Watch this space!
If you are interested in this hedgehog house it is available, with over 300 reviews at an average rating of 5 stars on Amazon here…