A Spike-tacular time of year

21st February 2025

As winter comes to a close, our hedgehog friends will soon be emerging from hibernation. Here are some ways that you can welcome hedgehogs this spring.

What is hibernation?

Hibernation is a state called torpor, where an animal reduces it’s metabolic activity. This means that it’s body temperature, breathing, and other bodily processes are reduced, and it doesn’t move around like usual. The purpose of this is to conserve energy while food is in short supply. Hedgehogs can’t find enough worms and beetles during the winter to keep them going. Hibernation allows a hedgehog to hit the pause button until the spring, when the weather is warmer and their food sources increase.

Hibernation season runs roughly from October/November until February/March, though hedgehogs occasionally rouse throughout this period to feed.

Have a look at our Hibernation FAQs for more info.

When do hedgehogs emerge from hibernation?

Hedgehogs usually end their hibernation in mid-March to early April, though timing of hibernation depends on environmental conditions as well as the health of individual hedgehogs.

How can I help hedgehogs this spring?

As hedgehogs rise from hibernation, they will need food and water. The hedgehog’s natural diet mainly consists of earthworms, ground beetles, caterpillars, earwigs and millipedes.

You can help hedgehogs get enough food by naturally increasing the abundance of their invertebrate prey through creating wildlife friendly gardens. Take a look at our guides to Wildlife Gardening and Hedgehog Friendly Garden Features to get inspiration on how to make your garden a more ideal habitat for hedgehogs and the insects they eat.

Hedgehogs can also benefit from supplementary feeding. Have a look at our Feeding Hedgehogs page for more info on tips and tricks on how best to feed them.

Ensuring hedgehogs can pass freely through your garden is another excellent way to help them. See our post on how to create Hedgehog Highways.

Logging when you see hedgehogs is another great way to help, as it tells us where hedgehogs are currently living throughout the UK.