Hedgehogs Need Room To Roam

It may surprise you, that hedgehogs are estimated to have a home range of between 25 - 50 acres or 10 - 20 hectares. That’s an area the size of up to 160 olympic-size swimming pools or almost 24 football fields!

Illustration from the children’s book ‘Hedgehog and the Fence’ by Helene Gardiner

Thank goodness that hedgehogs aren’t territorial because right now, British hedgehogs are fighting a battle for survival. In a little more than a decade, we have lost almost half of our British hedgehogs, who are now listed on Britain’s Red List for Mammals.

Reasons For Decline

Image courtesy of jplenio on Pixabay

Reasons for their decline are thought to include habitat loss and fragmentation, an increase in intensive agriculture and a decline in suitable food sources.

Reducing Fragmentation

Hedgehogs, like many animals, require widespread territories to access sufficient food and meet other hedgehogs. So, one way we can address the problem of fragmentation is by providing a ‘wildlife corridor’. In terms of urban hedgehogs, this means linking gardens via ‘hedgehog highways’.

You can help hedgehogs by linking up your garden with your neighbours, creating your own hedgehog highway. Learn how to link your garden.

A section of clay or plastic soil pipe - make sure it is a commercial soil pipe, which is a larger diameter of 16cm, rather than a domestic soil pipe, which is only 11cm.

Illustrations from the children’s book ‘Hedgehog and the Fence’ by Helene Gardiner

Helping Our Hedgehogs

We can all help hedgehogs in their fight for survival.

Creating wild areas or vegetative cover in gardens and parks, and maintaining rural field margins and hedgerows, provides habitat and potential food sources for hedgehogs.

Image courtesy of Keluan on Pixabay

Learn how to encourage hedgehogs and other wildlife into your garden here.