Hedgehogs After Dark: Nesting and gathering leaves

18th May 2020

It’s the second week of Hedgehogs After Dark and we’re beginning to explore different hedgehog behaviours.

Nesting in the garden…

A garden with lots of shrubs, wild plants and overgrown areas will encourage insects. This means potential food for your local hedgehogs, but it also provides areas to hide, nest in or just take a well-earned break. Messy log piles or leaf piles, which may look unattractive to you, are a dream home to a local hedgehog.

Hedgehogs will put special effort into their winter nests for hibernation, but summer nests are also important. This is especially the case when female hedgehogs are preparing the nest for their young. Ensuring there’s an undisturbed area and plenty of nesting materials in your garden may therefore provide a vital home for a hog family.

Putting a hedgehog house in the garden is also a great idea, and you might then spot a hedgehog filling it with leaves to nest in.

What to look for…

Nesting behaviour generally involves the hedgehog moving leaves etc. into their nest, like in the below video.

**Hedgehogs After Dark has now finished, but you can check out the highlights on our YouTube channel, and log hedgehog sightings on the BIG Hedgehog Map!**