Wakelam's Wildlife: Hedgehogs, prickly little visitors

  • Published
  • By Judith Wakelam
  • 100th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
RAF MILDENHALL, England --  As a child, I remember being enthralled by Alison Utley's "Fuzzypeg the Hedgehog" and Beatrix Potter's "Mrs. Tiggywinkle" books that my mother read to my brother and me. Our love of hedgehogs continues, as in real life they are even better than in the books.

The European hedgehog - Erinaceus Europaeus- to give it its Latin name, is present over most of mainland Europe and the British Isles with the exception of some of the Scottish Islands.


Sadly, many of you will only have seen hedgehogs in the all too familiar guise of a flattened prickly creature squashed on a road; traffic being one of the biggest dangers to them. Being nocturnal, when they come out at night to hunt for earthworms, beetles, caterpillars, slugs, etc., they invariably need to cross busy roads. When threatened by an oncoming vehicle instead of fleeing they often curl up in a ball - their natural defense, but no match for a car.

Hedgehogs are covered with quite sharp spines that are actually made of hair with the throat and underbelly covered in a course fur. When very young, the spines are quite soft, but as they grow the spines thicken and harden. A fully-grown male hedgehog can grow to 9 to 11 inches in length and weigh in excess of 2.5 pounds, it is called a boar, the female a sow, and the babies are known as hoglets. A sow can, if the food supply and conditions are right, produce two litters a year of up to five young usually born between May and September.

As hedgehogs hibernate, the weather plays an important part in their behavior. A long hard winter can mean that some will not survive hibernation if they have not built up sufficient fat reserves. Sometimes the weather will warm up a bit and they will come out of hibernation for a time then return to it.

Hoglets born late in the year are often not big enough to survive hibernation, so it's important that we do our bit to help. We are now at the time of the year when a hedgehog's natural food will become less easy to find and a young hedgehog needs to weigh about 21 ounces to get through hibernation.

Many of our gardens will have been visited overnight by hedgehogs without us even knowing.

I regularly have a visit, and as the weather gets cooler, every evening, I put out a saucer of dog or cat food (meat not fish) to help boost their fat reserves. A low container of water will also be welcomed. I have a purpose-built hedgehog hibernation box tucked away in the shrubbery in my garden, but it has yet to be used. Hedgehog boxes are readily available but many DIY enthusiasts prefer to make their own.

Gardens can hold many dangers for hedgehogs; ponds for instance. Though they are good swimmers, they need to be able to get out should they fall in, and a slope or ramp will enable them to do so. Lawn mowers and weed trimmers cause many injuries. Bonfires are also a danger as they appear the ideal place to hibernate so always check for hedgehogs before you light one.

Unfortunately, sometimes hedgehogs die from eating slugs that have been killed with slug pellets put down by gardeners to rid their gardens of these pests.

Litter is an all too common danger for wildlife. Many small mammals get stuck in discarded bottles and cans. Hedgehogs are often found to have died from being entangled in the plastic rings that hold cans together. Once around the animal it's impossible for them to get it off and the plastic does not expand as the hedgehog grows so, please cut these up before throwing them away.

A hedgehog, though quite small, will forage for a considerable distance. Research has shown that they can cover up to 2 miles in a single night and will visit many gardens between dusk and dawn. A hedgehog out and about during the day is usually a bad sign it means it's probably very hungry, very thirsty, or sick. Many counties in Britain have wildlife hospitals with a network of people that will take a sick hedgehog, nurse it back to health and then release it back to the wild. Those too small to hibernate will be over-wintered and released in the spring.

Picking up an adult hedgehog is not an easy task, a stout pair of gloves are best. When I've found an injured one and had no gloves on hand I've found it easiest to roll it onto a cloth or newspaper. Hedgehogs are never alone; they are always accompanied by numerous fleas and ticks but don't be too alarmed as hedgehog fleas do not live on humans -- nevertheless they are not ideal company.

Hedgehog numbers over recent years have been on the decline and much research is being undertaken to determine the reasons, so anything at all that we can do to help will be of benefit.

I would hate to think that the only hedgehogs seen by future generations are the drawings of Fuzzypeg and Mrs. Tiggywinkle. To have the real thing visit your garden is much better than the books.

For more information look on the British Hedgehog Preservation Society Web site: www.britishhedgehogs.co.uk and St. Tiggywinkles Wildlife Hospital: www.sttiggywinkles.org.co.