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​Here are the best ways to turn your garden into a safe and welcoming "hog habitat," focusing on movement, shelter, and safety.

​🦔 Three Pillars of a Hedgehog-Friendly Garden

​1. The Hedgehog Highway (Movement)

​Hedgehogs are nocturnal and can travel up to 2km (1.2 miles) every night in search of food and mates. They can't do that if they're trapped in a single garden.

​Create Gaps: Cut a small, square hole, approximately 13cm x 13cm (5 x 5 inches), at the bottom of solid fences or walls on your boundaries.

​Encourage Neighbours: Talk to your neighbours about creating "Hedgehog Highways" so the local population can roam freely across several gardens.

​Hedges are Best: If you are installing a new boundary, a natural hedge is always better than a solid fence, as it provides natural shelter and foraging space.

​2. Food & Water

​While their primary diet is insects, supplementary feeding helps them build up fat reserves, especially before hibernation (late autumn) and after they wake up (spring).

​Fresh Water: Always leave a shallow bowl of fresh water out, especially in dry or hot weather.

​The Right Food: Put out specialist hedgehog food, or meaty wet cat/dog food (not fish-flavoured). High-quality, crushed cat biscuits also work well.

​Avoid Hazards: Set up a feeding station (an upturned plastic box with a small hole cut in it) to stop larger animals, like cats or foxes, from eating the food.

​3. Shelter & Safety

​Hedgehogs need safe, quiet, undisturbed places to build nests for resting during the day, raising young (hoglets), and hibernating over winter.

Wild Corner: Leave one corner of your garden untidy. This is helpful because long grass, leaf piles, and log piles attract insects (the hedgehog's food) and offer natural nesting materials and shelter.

​Hedgehog House: You can buy a purpose-built house or create your own "hogitat" from bricks or a wooden box, covered with soil and leaves. This should be sited in a quiet, sheltered spot.

​Pond Safety: If you have a pond, you must make sure there is a sloping exit ramp (made of stones, a submerged log, or chicken wire) so that the hedgehogs can climb out if they fall in.

​Bonfire/Strimmer Check: ALWAYS check bonfires, compost heaps, and long grass/undergrowth thoroughly before lighting or strimming, as hedgehogs love to hide and nest in these areas.

​Chemical-Free Gardening: Avoid using slug pellets, pesticides, and other chemicals. These poisons harm hedgehogs directly, and also eliminate their natural food source.

​🧱 DIY Hedgehog House (Simple Method)

​This method creates a robust, predator-proof shelter using materials you might already have in your garden.

​What You Will Need

​Location: A flat, quiet, shady spot (like behind a shed or under thick shrubs).

​Bricks: About 20-30 old bricks or paving stones.

​Roof: One large, heavy paving slab, tile, or a sturdy sheet of untreated wood.

​Camouflage: Logs, sticks, dry leaves, and soil.

​Bedding: A pile of dry leaves (oak, beech, or hazel are preferred) or straw.

​Safety: Gardening gloves.

​Step-by-Step Instructions

​Scout the Spot: Find a place that is quiet, out of the prevailing wind and rain, and is unlikely to be disturbed (e.g., along a boundary fence or under thick bushes).

​Mark the Shape: Mark out a space for the inner chamber, roughly 40cm wide by 30cm deep (this is the space the hedgehog will live in).

​Build the Walls: Lay bricks around the marked perimeter to build the walls. Overlap the bricks (like bricklaying) for stability.

​Create the Tunnel: When you lay the bricks for the front wall, leave a gap that is exactly 13cm wide for the entrance. This size is perfect for a hedgehog but too small for predators like foxes.

​Build Up the Walls: Build the walls up to about two or three layers high, making sure the brickwork is stable.

​Roof the Tunnel: Use two or three bricks laid crossways, or a small paving slab, to create a strong roof over the 13cm entrance gap. This creates a short tunnel, which is crucial for safety.

​Place the Main Roof: Carefully place your large paving slab or sheet of wood on top of the main chamber walls. This provides a heavy, weatherproof lid that predators cannot easily remove.

​Camouflage and Insulate: Cover the roof and sides of the house with a thick layer of soil, logs, twigs, and plenty of dry leaves. This helps to insulate the house, keeps it dry, and makes it look natural.

​Add Bedding: Leave a large pile of dry leaves or straw right outside the entrance. The hedgehog will carry these inside to make its own soft, warm nest.

​Test for Visitors (Optional): To see if the house is being used, you can gently place a small twig across the entrance. If it's been moved in the morning, you'll know you have a visitor! (Remember not to disturb the house if you think it's occupied!)