When I was a child, our country garden was full of hedgehogs, so much so that the family dog took to bringing them into the house, its jaws so gently closed around their small, spiny, indignant bodies that we could retrieve them unscathed and release them back into the wild.
But despite the fact that I garden organically, it has been several years since I have seen a live hedgehog. Tellingly, this was while helping in a group-tidy up of an overgrown school garden one day in late winter; an overly-zealous young volunteer was clearing deep piles of leaves away from a neglected corner when the sound of gentle snores alerted us to the fact that it was home to a hibernating hedgehog. That blanket of leaves was hastily replaced, I’m glad to say, and that hedgehog’s slumbers continued uninterrupted.
In decline
But the news is not good for Ireland’s hedgehog population. Climate change, road traffic, modern farming practices, the widespread use of common garden chemicals and the disruption/destruction of their natural habitats have all contributed to a stark decline in numbers. If figures in the UK are anything to go by, that rate of decline could be as much as 50 per cent.
But there are things we can all do to help to reverse this. One, if you’re a driver, is to reduce your speed at night and be watchful for these little nocturnal mammals. And if you are a gardener or garden-owner (sometimes two very different things), then try not to be too tidy-minded, especially during the winter months (hedgehogs typically waken from their hibernation in late March/April).
In particular, avoid the use of conventional, non-organic slug pellets as well as herbicides. Both are accidentally ingested by hedgehogs when they eat garden slugs and beetles, two of their favourite foods. If you have a garden pond, make sure there’s a way for hedgehogs to safely clamber out of it (for example, a small ramp or some stones).
Roam free
Similarly, try to leave occasional small gaps (15cm diameter) in garden fences so that your neighbourhood hedgehogs can roam freely: amazingly, adult hedgehogs can cover a distance of 1-2km over the course of a night, with a range of up to 20 hectares.
Open drains, gullies, discarded fruit nets and unfastened refuse bags are also potential hedgehog hazards, as are lawn mowers and strimmers. Make sure to leave them some leafy, semi-wild and secluded patches where they can forage safely for slugs, beetles and worms and hibernate undisturbed. And finally, listen out for those gentle hedgehog snores …
