Helen Mitchem

I'm getting lots of calls from people who have decided to clean out their garage, outbuilding or shed and have found a 'sleeping' hedgehog. Firstly, please leave them there. Put everything back as it was, as gently and quietly as possible, and walk away. Whatever you wanted to do that day is not worth killing a precious endangered animal for. Because of the false autumn this year (the drought traumatised trees into dropping their leaves early, as a survival tactic, and the smell of those decaying leaves is an 'autumn is here' trigger for hedgehogs), a lot are hibernating early. Hibernation isn't a sleep. It's a lowered metabolism. The heartbeat is lowered dramatically from 190 beats per minute to around 15. A breath is taken only once every few minutes. Their body temperature is dropped from 35C to around 5C. Systems not needed for life are shut down. A hibernating hedgehog burns just 1 calorie per day. Isn't that incredible? They still have a sleeping and waking cycle, and are perfectly aware and can hear, but are stiff, rigid, and cannot move. Trapped and helpless in that near-death state. It takes weeks of preparation to achieve this incredible transformation. It cannot be instantly undone. Even the fastest rising, by a young fit hedgehog, takes about 12 hours, before the heart is beating fast enough and there's enough oxygen in the bloodstream to allow muscles to move again. If a hedgehog in a state of hibernation is terrified (by being disturbed by a human) and is panicked into trying to rise too fast, the strain can be too much for him and he'll have a heart attack. It's so dangerous to disturb them that it's actually against the law - and goodness knows our wildlife have few enough laws protecting them. But leaving them in peace is more than obeying the law. It's human kindness. After destroying their own natural habitat, it’s the least we can do - to allow them safe passage through the winter, in whatever space of ours they choose to inhabit. And they chose to inhabit your space because it was undisturbed. Unused. Just as we can smell when a house is empty, hedgehogs can smell when something has lain undisturbed - be it a roll of carpet, a bag of old clothes, or a sack of compost. Undisturbed means safety to a desperate animal. These poor displaced gentle creatures take the chance that small space will stay undisturbed, long enough for them to survive winter. So if you're having a clear out and find a hedgehog please let them stay in peace, undisturbed. Put any covering back just how you found it. Please don't be tempted to add to it, to 'make them more comfy'. 🥰 It's lovely that you feel that way, but the hedgehog will just see it as a predator making their nest unsafe. If there's no access to the building that you know of, please leave the door open a little, or make a cat-flap size hole in the door. And leave a clean dish of water outside the building, and a dish of dry cat or dog food outside in the evenings ( a complete food that has meat as the first listed ingredient). If they are too frightened to continue hibernating there, they will use up a great deal of precious stored energy moving on, and will need to replenish that. And then enjoy the rare privilege, that this precious endangered wild animal trusted you and your garden to be at his most vulnerable.❤️