FAQs & Advice

Hedgehogs eat a variety of invertebrates, including insects and molluscs, such as earthworms, caterpillars, and beetles. You can also feed them cat food – any variety – even fish! or some hedgehog foods from pet stores and supermarkets. Do not give a hedgehog bread, milk or mealworms.

Hedgehogs are nocturnal, so they are usually not seen during the day. They are most active at night and rest during the day in nests made of vegetation.  The general rule is If it’s out during the day, it is not ok.

Sadly, in the UK, hedgehogs typically live for two to three years, but they can live upwards of 10 years, with the oldest recorded on being 17 years old.

 Here are some ways you can help hedgehogs: 

• Avoid man-made hazards 
• Provide suitable nesting places 
• Don't use slug pellets 
• Keep dogs under control 
• Store chemicals safely 
• Provide a hole in the fence
• Feed them and provide water

Size is not a definitive way to identify their gender. Males have a large “belly button” in the mid-abdominal region, while females do not. 

Counting hedgehogs is difficult. The most recent estimate of the number of hedgehogs in England, Scotland and Wales puts the figure at 879,000, with about a quarter in urban areas. But there is still a lot of uncertainty about the precise number.  Over half of hedgehogs have been lost from our countryside since the millennium and hedgehogs have disappeared from a third of sites in towns and cities. Here, however, in urban areas, numbers where hedgehogs are still found look like they’re increasing.

Hedgehogs can be difficult to detect, but searching for their footprints is a good way of discovering if they are around. A path of flattened grass is also a good clue.

Both the front and back feet have five toes, though often only four toes show up on the tracks. The front feet are wider, and they look like little hands. The back feet are slimmer and longer and leave correspondingly narrower prints. 

Droppings can vary depending on the diet of the hedgehog. Droppings are usually dark brown-grey or black. They are firm and typically packed with the exoskeletons of invertebrates, such as beetles. Often you will see a dropping on its own, and it will be roughly cylindrical, and sometimes tapered. Droppings sometimes look like a dark slug on the lawn. They range in length from 15-50mm.

 The history of hedgehogs is long and colourful. Hedgehogs are small, spiny mammals that first evolved about 15 million years ago. There are 19 species in five genera of hedgehogs worldwide:  Erinaceus, Paraechinus, Mesechinus, Atelerix and Hemiechinus. They live across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Central Asia. Hedgehogs were introduced to New Zealand from England, and now they are abundant throughout the country, but considered a threat to native wildlife. There are about one million West European hedgehogs living in the UK. The most common pet hedgehog is the African pygmy hedgehog, made famous by many YouTube videos and recognisable by its white fur.