The hungry hedgehog

Hedgehogs are amazing little creatures. They evolved about 20 million years ago. Because they have been so successful, they have changed very little over this time period. The hedgehog seems to have been introduced to Ireland in the 13^th century, either accidentally or for food. The Irish name for the Hedgehog is Grainneog which means the horrible one. This name seems a bit harsh, especially since this animal causes no problems for us. In fact, a hedgehog can be a great help to the gardener.

Hedgehog eating dogfood

In Ireland, hedgehogs hibernate from about December to April. They spend the coldest months tucked up in a nest under a shed or in a hedge. They come out of hibernation occasionally, to urinate or even to move to a new nest. I have noticed several dead hedgehogs on roadsides recently. Death on the roads may be significant but is not thought to be a major factor controlling hedgehog numbers. Interestingly, more males than females are killed on the roads, probably because they travel further in search of females.

They forage at night for beetles, worms, caterpillars, slugs, earwigs and millipedes. They will occasionally eat birds' eggs, fruit and berries, when they are available. By eating slugs and snails, the hedgehog does the gardener a favour. Their eyesight is poor but their sense of smell is well developed. They make snorting noises as they search for food and this is probably where the 'hog' part of its name came from. A hedgehog may travel up to 3km in a night in search of food. You could attract them to your garden by putting out dog-food for them at night. This supplementary food might become critical in early winter when the hedgehog has to accumulate fat for hibernation. They must reach a weight of 450g in order to have enough reserves to make through the winter. Milk and bread are not suitable food for hedgehogs.

Apart from road deaths, causes of mortality in hedgehogs include poisoning from eating slugs which have eaten toxic slug pellets and predation by badgers and foxes. The hedgehog's usual defence of rolling itself into a tight ball, with only spines sticking out, is no match for the powerful jaws of a badger. They also have a tendency to fall into cattle grids.

Over the past few years, a hedgehog has taken up residence in our garden. He or she seems to be a loner because we have never seen more than one at a time and we have never seen young ones. In the past week, our hedgehog has been out looking for food in the garden in broad daylight, two hours before sunset. I put out some tinned dog food for him and he ate half a tin in one night. I hope that hunger has not forced him to forage early. Although it has been a very poor summer, the numbers of worms and slugs should not have been adversely affected.