What to do if you find a hedgehog in daylight hours

What to Do If You Find a Hedgehog in Your Garden During the daytime

Hedgehogs are beloved creatures in the UK, known for their endearing appearance and role in controlling garden pests. However, finding a hedgehog out and about during daylight hours can be cause for concern, as these nocturnal animals are typically only active at night. In such situations, it's important to take action to ensure the hedgehog's well-being. We have researched a few steps you can take to help if you find a hedgehog in your garden during the day. You can also help to provide a hedgehog-friendly garden and environment.

1. Assess the Situation:

• Upon discovering a hedgehog in your garden during the day, take a moment to observe its behaviour from a distance. Note whether it appears healthy and active or if it seems disoriented, injured, or lethargic.
• Approach the hedgehog quietly to avoid causing further stress but avoid touching it unless absolutely necessary.
• Keep pets away, hedgehogs are well known for carrying fleas – it’s always a good idea to keep your pets away from hedgehogs where possible.

1. Provide Temporary Shelter:

• If the hedgehog appears injured, disoriented, or in need of assistance, create a temporary shelter to keep it safe until help arrives. You could use a cardboard box or a dark plastic container with air holes to provide ventilation.
• Line the shelter with a towel, straw or some newspaper to create a soft and comfortable environment for the hedgehog.
• Place the shelter in a quiet, warm, and dark area of your garden away from disturbances.
• Offer a shallow dish of water and some hedgehog food if you have some available - https://www.brinvale.com/wildlife/hedgehog/

1. Seek Professional Advice:

• Contact a local wildlife rescue centre or a hedgehog rescue charity for guidance on how to proceed.
• Describe the hedgehog's condition and behaviour to the experts and follow their instructions carefully.
• They may advise you to monitor the hedgehog closely and wait for it to become active at night before taking further action, or they may arrange for someone to collect the hedgehog for rehabilitation.

1. What you can do to help create a hedgehog friendly environment in your garden:

• Create hedgehog highways by providing access points in your fences or walls to allow hedgehogs to move freely between gardens.
• Avoid using pesticides, slug pellets, and other chemicals that could harm hedgehogs or their food sources.
• Provide food and water stations for hedgehogs, such as shallow dishes of water and bowls of meat-based cat or dog food (avoid feeding them bread and milk, as this can be harmful). https://www.brinvale.com/wildlife/hedgehog/
• Leave wild areas of your garden undisturbed to provide hedgehogs with shelter and nesting sites.

There are several reasons why you might find an active hedgehog in your garden during daylight hours:

1. Foraging: While hedgehogs are nocturnal, they may sometimes venture out during the day to search for food if they are particularly hungry or if their usual foraging areas have been disturbed.
2. Nesting or Sheltering: Pregnant or nursing female hedgehogs may occasionally come out during the day to gather nesting materials or find a suitable place to build a nest. Similarly, hedgehogs may seek shelter during daylight hours if their nocturnal hiding spots have been disrupted.
3. Warm Weather: In warmer weather, hedgehogs may be more active during the day, especially if they are trying to regulate their body temperature or find cooler areas to escape the heat.
4. Human Interaction: Human activities such as garden maintenance, construction work, or pet presence can sometimes disturb hedgehogs, causing them to become active during the day.
5. Health Issues, Disorientation or Distress: In some cases, hedgehogs may be out during the day due to health issues such as parasites, injuries, or infections that affect their normal behaviour. Hedgehogs are primarily nocturnal animals, so if they are out during the day, it could suggest that they are disoriented, distressed, or in some kind of trouble. This might be due to illness, injury, or disturbance in their natural habitat.

Encountering a hedgehog in your garden during the day can be a cause for concern, but with the right approach, you can help ensure the well-being of these nocturnal creatures. If the hedgehog appears healthy, alert, and active it may be that they are simply out to forage for food or are looking for somewhere to nest. They may not need any intervention, so it is always best to observe first and only assist if you believe the hedgehog to be unwell. By providing temporary shelter, seeking professional advice, and taking preventative measures to create a hedgehog-friendly environment, you can make a positive difference for hedgehogs in your area. We love these spikey creatures and hope you do too! Don’t forget to check out our hedgehog section on our website for all your prickly friends needs 😊  https://www.brinvale.com/wildlife/hedgehog/

Whilst we are celebrating all things hog related this week lets look at some interesting hedgehog facts:

1. Prickles a plenty- A typical adult hedgehog will have around 5,000 spines but a particularly large individual may have as many as 7,500.
2. Peaceful slumber- Hedgehogs are poorly insulated so hibernation is essential for surviving winter. Most go into hibernation in November and don't become active again until late March or early April.
3. A Hogs menu- Hedgehogs are carnivorous with favourite foods being beetles, caterpillars and earthworms. They also eat slugs and snails, earwigs, millipedes, birds' eggs and anything else that takes their fancy. 
4. Stop, thief!- Hedgehogs eat the eggs of ground nesting birds. In the past this led to persecution by gamekeepers; one East Anglian estate is known to have killed 20,000 in the early years of the 20th century.
5. Working up an appetite- Hedgehogs soon learn to visit garden feeding stations. Research has shown that individual animals will travel as far as 500 metres to come to food.
6. Follow your nose- Their eyesight is poor but their sense of smell is acute and their ears very sensitive. 
7. Summer love- Hedgehogs mate in May and give birth to a litter of four or five hoglets in June or July.
8. Colour change- The hoglet's first spines are white but brown spines soon start to grow; by 15 days the white spines are virtually invisible. 
9. A Mother's love- Young hedgehogs never meet their father: he plays no part in rearing them.