Hedgehogs and Heatwaves Don’t Mix

During the recent run of heatwaves, most of us have been focused on making sure the avian visitors to our gardens have been supplied with clean, fresh water. But doing so ignores the needs of one of the UK’s most endearing animals, the hedgehog.

Over this unprecedented run of heatwaves, hedgehogs will have been struggling to find food and water. With the soil baked hard, worms, slugs and other insects will have gone deep to avoid the worst of the weather. As a result, hedgehogs will have found it almost impossible to find enough to eat or to stay hydrated.

Hedgehog numbers are already in decline, with the IUCN (the International Union for Conservation of Nature) placing them on the red list in 2023, listing them as near threatened, so this summer’s extreme weather won’t have helped to improve their situation.

Animal rescue centres have already seen an increase in the number of animals brought in as a result of the weather. The RSPCA have reported an increase of between 30% and 50% in the number of cases they’ve had to deal with. Cuan Wildlife Rescue in Shropshire saw 692 hedgehogs admitted during the period of January to July last year. This year the number is 811 for the same period.

It would seem that it isn’t just hedgehogs that have found the recent droughts tough. According to reports on the BBC’s News website, owls have also been finding this difficult. Phrases like “unprecedented” have been used to describe the situation over the past few weeks.

It isn’t just a lack of food and water; the wildfires that have broken out in several locations have also affected the wildlife that call these areas home.

The risks posed by droughts to hedgehogs aren’t simply a lack of food or water in their home range. When these things are in short supply, any animal is going to look elsewhere, and hedgehogs are no different.

The problems stem from the risks they face when navigating traffic while trying to find food. They can all too often fall victim to accidents.

At this time of year, hedgehogs are also looking to gain weight to give them the best possible chance of making it through the winter.

With food in such short supply, they may struggle to reach the optimum weight needed to see them through the colder months.

Being nocturnal, any hedgehogs seen out in daylight are cause for concern, and with the weather being so hot, they need to be under cover. If you see one during the day, chances are it is struggling.

If you do approach it and it doesn’t readily curl up into a ball, it is another indication that something is wrong and that you need to seek advice from a vet or an animal rescue service.

If you do come across what you feel to be a sick or struggling hedgehog, and you feel you need to move it, it’s probably a good idea to wear gardening gloves to enable you to place the animal gently in a box. This will allow you to move it somewhere safe while you contact a rescue service for more advice.

As the saying goes, ‘prevention is better than a cure’, so maybe the recent heatwaves have acted as a wake-up call for us all to make our gardens more friendly to hedgehogs and other wild animals.

One of the simplest things you can do is talk to your neighbours about creating a hedgehog highway, with openings in fences to allow hedgehogs to move easily and safely between gardens. Hedgehogs can travel between 1 and 2 kilometres a night to forage.

Other things you can do to make your garden safer include:

• Check carefully before strimming or using lawn mowers.
• Don’t use chemical poisons or slug pellets.
• Make ponds safe by providing a method of escape should a hedgehog fall in.
• Keep netting tidy to avoid entanglements.

Of course, making water available is vitally important at any time of year, but especially during heatwaves and afterwards. It will take the countryside some time to recover.

Put out hedgehog food such as the Brambles range. This food is available as dried, wet (tinned) or moist; just don’t forget the water.

Never offer bread, which just fills them up without providing any nutritional benefit, or milk, as they are lactose intolerant.

In addition to food and water, why not consider a hedgehog house?

They come in a variety of styles and might just encourage nesting or provide shelter during the winter months.

With the heatwaves officially over, for now, let’s hope the countryside recovers in time for the imminent arrival of autumn.

The recent extreme weather has highlighted just how vulnerable our wildlife can be when natural food and water sources become scarce. With a little help from gardeners, animal rescue services and private individuals, we can all play a part in helping hedgehogs and other wildlife bounce back from this unprecedented period of weather.