Hedgehog New Year’s Resolutions

29th December 2021

Instead of making the same old New Year’s resolutions, this year why not pledge to help hedgehogs? We have put together some ideas for promises you can make, which will be easy to keep and have the added bonus of helping Britain’s favourite mammal.

Talk to your neighbours

One of the first steps towards making a hedgehog highway is to talk to your neighbours. We often get people asking us how to go about this! We recommend putting our invitations through some local letterboxes, then following that up with direct contact a few days later. Many roads now have their own WhatsApp group, which can be a great place to introduce the topic. Sign up to be a Hedgehog Champion here, and you can download the invitations, along with many other resources.

Put out food and water

Supplementary food and water can hugely benefit hedgehogs when their natural diet of insects is scarce. Once hedgehogs know they have a reliable food supply, they will often turn up at the same time each night, expecting their breakfast to be there. We recommend feeding hedgehogs a meat-based cat or dog food or high quality specialist hedgehog food.

Rewild an area of your garden

Many garden features can be beneficial to hedgehogs. Log piles, compost heaps and leaf piles all provide nesting opportunities and an increase in insects for hedgehogs to forage. Leaving part of your garden to grow wild will encourage hedgehogs in, due to the increase in foraging and nesting sites. It is also extremely easy to do!

Do a presentation

Though sometimes nerve-wracking, a presentation can be a great way to get people interested in the plight of hedgehogs, by educating and entertaining them. If you’d like to give one to your local community, we have a slideshow you can download and adapt to your own needs. Just register for free here and head to the free resources section. You can also download a presentation aimed at children ages 6 -12, which you can use at local schools or clubs.

Whatever you choose to do for your hedgehog New Year’s resolution, good luck and have a great New Year!