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The main way you can help hedgehogs is to try and make the area which surrounds where you live more hedgehog friendly. At the moment, hedgehogs are in hibernation, but there may be some wandering around looking for food (particularly juvenile hedgehogs born in Autumn), who are too little to make it through hibernation. 

Making holes in your fence Hedgehogs can travel 1-2 miles a night in search of food, so if they can get from garden to garden, it will really help them. You can cut a small hole in your fence / or enable holes and gaps underneath the fence and encourage neighbours to do so too, so you can create a hedgehog street!

Set up a Feeding Station To help the hedgehogs in your garden, you can set up a feeding station. All you need is some kind of big waterproof box and any kind of food that is suitable for hedgehogs. What will you need? Large plastic storage box Hacksaw/strong scissors Insulation tape 2 bricks or large stones Hedgehog food and water (Or cat or dog food)

2: Place the food and water as far back from the entrance as possible. There is often some confusion when it comes to what to feed them. Hedgehogs liking bread and milk is a myth, as hedgehogs are lactose intolerant. This means that if they eat dairy they will have an allergic reaction, such as a sore tummy or diarrhoea. Instead feed them dog or cat food: avoid chicken and fish types. Or special hedgehog food. Also provide a fresh bowl of water to prevent dehydration.

3: Place one brick on top of the box to prevent it from being easily moved, and another approximately 13cm away from the entrance to stop larger animals being able to lie down and hook the food out with their paws.

Voila! A Hedgehog Diner.

The food might go or it might not. To check what is eating it if you get a visitor you can easily get a trail camera to put in the box – you can buy these from about £30. Then, you might get a hedgehog visiting...and it's a real treat if you do.

Stop Using Pesticides, Insecticides and Rat Poison in your garden

Pesticides, insecticides and rat poison, are bad because they always find their way to hedgehogs. You can help by either not buying them, or doing the following substitutes.

Beer

You are probably thinking... beer, WHAT????

But actually it can be used to catch and trap slugs as it contains yeast which is one thing that slugs love. Because this is the bit they love, you can also use yeast, sugar and warm water. 

Netting

Hedgehogs can get trapped inside netting, football goals, badminton nets, barbed wire, and lots more of the kind. You can help by making sure you don’t have any of these lying around in your garden at night.

What should you do if you find a sick or injured hedgehog that’s out during the day?