St John’s Street is becoming more populated – with hedgehogs! We re-homed 7 hedgehogs in 2016, releasing them after a stay in Shepreth Hedgehog Hospital.
If you want to encourage hedgehogs to come to your garden, you need to have – first and foremost – a clear passage into adjacent gardens. This can be a simple hole cut in the fence, or a gap under a gate – hedgehogs can roam up to 2 miles a night. Never use slug pellets and keep some ‘wild and messy’ areas, with shrubbery for them to hide in and provide safe access to water. If you have a pond, make sure there is a sloping edge for them to get out if they fall in.
If you want to leave food out for them, try dried cat food, a few meal worms (not too many, they love them but too many are bad for them), and plain water – NEVER give them milk or bread – both are impossible for them to digest and may harm them.
ALWAYS CHECK BONFIRES BEFORE LIGHTING AND LIGHT ONLY ONE SIDE, LEAVING AN ESCAPE ROUTE!
hedgehog-care leaflet
The following websites will give you lots more information.