House for hedgies in an urban yard

[Sonicshouse]

Hi,

Somehow, we have ended up with at least two hedgehogs in our concrete yard. It has a few patches of overgrown weeds, lots of pots, and a couple of unkempt raised beds. They can come and go through a hole under our back gate, but that leads to a cobbled alley and I suspect other yards in the area are similar to ours. I have now seen them three nights in a row so they seem to like it here, but I want to offer them somewhere to nest as they were doing a lot of grunting the other night so suspect hoglets may happen. Someone has leant me a hedgehog igloo (the metal framed, mossy sort) and I am trying to decide where to put it. Ideally I’d choose the bottom of the yard, where it’s nice and isolated, but my son’s trampoline is there and I imagine the noise and vibrations of that will be stressful for hedgehogs (or would they sleep through it? they are living in a very built-up, noisy area). The other option is to gather a load of pots (with plants that slugs love) and put something on the floor so it is not bare concrete, and hide the igloo among the pots. Any suggestions on what might work best?

Thanks!

[Nic]

Hi Sonicshouse

It’s difficult to advise without knowing more about your yard (i.e. how big it is, where everything is, in relation to each other, etc.) , but I’ll try my best.

If you want a hedgehog to nest in the igloo, then a quiet place would be best. Even for over-day stays, they would probably prefer some peace and quiet. The pot idea might work. Sometimes it’s a case of trial and error. But don’t move it too often if it doesn’t get a tenant – some hogs like them to become part of the scenery before they will use them. If there isn’t suitable nesting material, then try to get some. Put a small amount in the hogilo to give them the idea, but many hogs prefer to do their own nest building with materials from nearby. So a pile of suitable material (leaves, long grasses, hay, etc.) nearby would be useful for them.

I am wondering about the raised beds – how high, how large, etc. Maybe crazy idea, but maybe you could make some sort of ramp so the hedgehogs could access them more easily. (If they were big enough, maybe you could even locate the hogilo on top of one of them – but if they are quite high that may not be practical). But you could plant them with hedghog/wildlife/insect friendly plants so the hogs could forage around them. You could use some ideas from https://www.hedgehogstreet.org/help-hedgehogs/link-your-garden/ scaled down. i.e. woodpiles, etc. to encourage beetles for the hogs – they probably prefer beetles to slugs.

The most important thing is to provide water for the hogs. This can be as simple as leaving a large plant saucer always filled with water. The larger ones are better, because hedgehogs will often walk through water containers and tip them over. But once the hogs have got used to water being there, don’t forget to keep it topped up, otherwise they may have a wasted journey to get there.

If it’s possible to link your yard with others that would be good too. Lots of linked yards, might be very helpful for the hogs, especially if everyone tries to make theirs hedgehog friendly! https://www.hedgehogstreet.org/help-hedgehogs/link-your-garden/

Good luck.

[Author]

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