"To attract and keep hedgehogs in your garden you need to enure that your garden has the right habitat and is safe. Leave some areas of your garden undisturbed and create other areas which provide the hedgehogs with cover. Piles of leaves, compost heaps, brambles, and wood piles are all ideas places for hedgehogs to nest. A wide variety of plants will attract a similarly wide variety of insects to appeal to the palates of your local hedgehog!

"A garden pond not only provides hedgehogs with a supply of water for drinking and swimming but also a profusion of insects to feed on. You could also put out food yourself. Don't worry about supplementing the hedgehogs' diet with dog or cat food (but not cow's milk). It will not stop them from foraging for their natural food. In fact, during the build-up to hibernation, it can help them gain sufficient weight to enable them to survive the winter.

"Safety is a major priority in your hedgehog-friendly garden. Do not use chemical insecticides, pesticides, etc. on your garden; organic methods for controlling pests and weeds are much safer, not only for hedgehogs but for all living things. In particular, avoid slug pellets; instead, use organic methods of slug control, such as beer traps (see Resources for leaflet).

"Make sure hedgehogs can climb out of the pond easily. Naturally sloping sides present no problem, but if the sides are slippery you should put some chicken wire down to give the hedgehogs something to grip on. If the sides are vertical, erect a ramp in the pond. Avoid putting plastic netting over ponds during winter to keep leaves out: hedgehogs can easily get tangled and drown. In general, be careful with netting. Store fruit netting out of a hedgehog's reach and furl tennis nets well above ground when not in use."