Whilst writing my last blog about wild birds, one of the girls suggested I do a bit about hedgehogs... Hedgehogs are famously beneficial to gardeners for eating slugs and snails – Yum! But as with birds their ideal habitats are rapidly disappearing, in part our tidy gardens and security requirements are to blame as they can end up with no comfy piles of leaves to hibernate in or access in our out of gardens in which to forage. So how can we help? Leave an area of the garden untouched with somewhere comfy and protected where they can hibernate (usually between November and March) ensure that fences or walls have sections that a hedgehog could easily squeeze under and if you really want to encourage them leave out some special hedgehog food, now almost as commonly available as bird-food - I was surprised to find that its apparently very popular in our centres – fresh water but not milk or bread which can leave them with upset hedgehog tummies. 
