Take care to check for hedgehogs before lighting bonfires

hedgehog in leaves

It only takes a minute to do but can save hundreds of hedgehogs from an unnecessary death.

  • Build the bonfire as close to the night as possible so there’s less chance of a hedgehog moving in.
  • Make your pile of material next to the bonfire site and re-build the stack before lighting it.
  • Search the bonfire for hibernating creatures using a torch and rake before starting the fire.
  • Move any hedgehogs found to a ready-made hedgehog box or somewhere dry and safe away from the fire.
  • Before bonfire night make an alternative hedgehog home by raking up grass cuttings or autumn leaves into a pile a safe distance from the fire. Hopefully sleepy hogs will choose to snooze there instead of the bonfire.

Hedgehogs are great friends to gardeners and a natural pest-killer. However, numbers are in decline and we need to do all we can to help them out.

Once bonfire night is over why not think about creating a hedgehog haven in your garden? Hedgehogs need garden habitats that mimic woodland edge and hedgerow and will feed on slugs, snails, beetles, worms, and caterpillars. You can provide leafy, twiggy places for hibernation small piles of logs or leaves are ideal. Avoid slug pellets and don’t keep your garden too tidy!