Garden Wildlife – Hedgehog. One of a series of wildlife videos by SVBG that feature wildlife in Sid Valley gardens.
The garden in the video below has recorded hedgehogs for a number of years. Some years they are few in number and some years as many as five have been seen at once.
The Secret Lives of East Devon’s Hedgehogs
Across the rolling hills and hedgerows of East Devon, a quiet, nocturnal drama unfolds every night. The European hedgehog is one of Britain’s most beloved mammals, yet these spiny visitors are increasingly elusive. Once a common sight in our gardens, they are now classified as vulnerable to extinction. Understanding their needs in our local landscape is the first step in ensuring they remain a part of our countryside.
A Population Under Pressure
While exact numbers for East Devon are difficult to calculate, national estimates place the British population at approximately 879,000 individuals. This reflects a significant decline of roughly one-third of the population since the turn of the millennium. Habitat fragmentation—where gardens and fields become isolated by fencing and roads—is a primary driver of this trend. In East Devon, as elsewhere, creating “hedgehog highways” (small gaps in fences) is vital to allow them to roam the several hectares they need for foraging and finding mates.
Habits and Nocturnal Life
Hedgehogs are nocturnal creatures. During the day, they remain hidden in nests constructed from grass, leaves, and other garden debris, often tucked under dense vegetation or log piles.
When darkness falls, they emerge to forage. An individual may travel several kilometres in a single night, though in resource-rich suburban gardens, their range can be more conservative. They are not territorial, meaning the home ranges of different hedgehogs frequently overlap.
As autumn approaches, these nightly excursions become critical; hedgehogs must consume enough food to build up the fat reserves necessary for surviving the winter, a period they spend in deep hibernation.
A Diverse Diet
Contrary to popular belief, a hedgehog’s diet is not primarily composed of slugs and snails, which can carry dangerous parasitic lungworms. Instead, they are insectivores that thrive on a varied menu of beetles, earthworms, caterpillars, and earwigs. They will also opportunistically feed on carrion, frogs, or birds’ eggs.
If you wish to supplement their diet in your East Devon garden, try to avoid bread and milk (though they will scavenge anything left over) as both can use nutritional issues. Instead, offer high-quality, meat-based cat or dog food—ideally dry kitten biscuits, which are easier for them to chew. Always provide a shallow bowl of fresh water, particularly during dry spells.
How You Can Help
The future of the hedgehog in East Devon depends on how we manage our outdoor spaces.
- Create Connectivity: Ensure your garden fences have 13cm x 13cm holes to allow passage.
- Ditch the Chemicals: Avoid slug pellets and insecticides, which remove the hedgehog’s natural food source and can cause secondary poisoning.
- Provide Shelter: Maintain log piles, leaf litter, and areas of long grass to offer safe nesting sites.
- Check Before Mowing: Always inspect long grass and compost heaps before using strimmers or forks, as these are common spots for nesting hedgehogs.
By transforming our gardens into interconnected, chemical-free havens, we can provide the refuge these fascinating animals so desperately need. Every small action helps maintain the biodiversity of the Sid Valley landscape for generations to come.
Tag: Garden Wildlife – Hedgehog.
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