1, Pesticide Contamination of Hedgehogs

It's a sad fact that more and more hedgehogs are being horribly killed each year by thoughtless gardeners. It just doesn't make sense to spend a fortune on chemical pest control and in the process kill off the most natural and FREE garden pest controllers there are.
Given time, with a hedgehog or two in your garden, you will never have to worry about nasty plant eating creatures again!
Hedgehogs will eat almost anything within reach, some of which could prove to be harmful to them. Very important is the fact that the things they eat most often (slugs, caterpillars, beetles etc.) are the very things farmers and gardeners try to get rid of by using vast amount of pesticides! It is likely that much of the hedgehogs natural food is currently contaminated with various amounts of these poisons; to little to kill it but enough to slow it down so that a hedgehog is more likely to then catch it and eat it. One beetle may contain a minute amount of DDT, for example, but a hedgehog might eat 20 beetles in an hour, hundreds in a week, gradually accumulating the DDT amongst other toxic substances in its body. Who knows what effect some of these poisons might have? We do know that Organochlorine pesticide (DDT, Aldrin, Dieldrin) which are specifically intended for use on the very things a hedgehog eats, are not eliminated from the body. They build up slowly in the liver and in fat. Hedgehogs depend on an accumulation of body fat to enable them to survive the winter and hibernation. By building up a layer of pesticide contaminated fat during the summer a hedgehog may be sowing the seed of its own destruction when this stored fat is used up during hibernation.

2, Accidental Death of Hedgehogs

Hedgehogs are very susceptible to accidents, which are not their fault. Many of them die when gardeners burn piles of leaves and garden rubbish, complete with hedgehogs, which have burrowed in to hibernate in peace over the winter. Others are scalped in summer when the long grass is cut, or stabbed with garden forks or spades whilst sleeping in warm compost heaps.
Hedgehogs are also at risk of death or injury from doing silly things, like licking the acid encrustation off old car batteries. Never leave this sort of thing lying about, please dispose of them carefully and thoughtfully, its not only animals that can suffer, small children can also be at risk. Other hazards include getting tangled up in tennis nets, always tie up nets when not in use. Make sure strawberry and pea nets are fixed down securely with pegs as hedgehogs can easily get their feet caught up in loose netting.
Cover all open drains and lay chicken wire over the edge of ponds to help hedgehogs scramble out or place rocks around the edges for them to climb out on.
Always think "HEDGEHOG".
Do everything you can to make your garden a safe place for hedgehogs to live in and they will reward you with years of service making your garden pest free. Be the envy of your neighbours who may not be so thoughtful!

3, IS HIBERNATION NECESSARY?

No, hedgehogs don't have to hibernate, if the weather is warm and food is put out for them every night, some hedgehogs do not feel the need to hibernate and will stay active all through the winter. Indeed the hedgehogs taken into care due to injuries or being under weight, do extremely well and are all the more fit and healthy for missing it. As mentioned before, hibernation is one of the most dangerous times for a hedgehog in the urban environment. In warm weather they have no problem finding sufficient food but as the weather gets colder the insects on which they feed, become scarcer and more difficult to find. The hedgehog can use up more energy looking for food than it gets from eating what it does find. Birds suffer this same problem and may respond by flying away to warmer places where food is still abundant. Obviously, the hedgehog hasn't got this option so adopts the alternative strategy of becoming inactive and using up as little energy as possible until weather and food supplies improve.
A hibernating hedgehogs temperature is usually around 10ºc and can sometimes drop to just 1ºc, digestion and breathing slow to virtually a standstill and the animal breaths only once every few minutes or so. Its heartbeat slows to around 20 beats a minute. Its in a kind of coma, the brain shuts down and its no longer aware of its surroundings, in this state it is incapable of defending itself from attack, floods, fire, etc. It can take several hours even days before it can get its muscles into action so that it can get out of danger! That is why it is so important to check bonfires, piles of leaves, rubbish and compost heaps before setting it alight or sticking in your spade or fork.

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