Hedgehogs out and about in the garden again – just don't give any milk now
Created: 05/02/2022, 16:30
By: Nina Marie Jarosch
Hibernation is over and the hedgehogs are on the move again.
We reveal how to help the animals now and what can be dangerous for them.
Hanover – Hardly any other wild animal is as popular with humans as the hedgehog.
Now the hibernation is over and the prickly fellows are back in our gardens and parks in search of food.
According to NABU, garden owners in particular can help hedgehogs in a sustainable and meaningful way by protecting the animals' habitat.
Here you can find out how this works and what you can do for the popular garden dwellers.
Hedgehogs out and about in the garden again – just don't give any milk now
The hedgehog is a wild animal and actually gets along quite well on its own.
But just after hibernation, the animals are emaciated.
Some hedgehogs wake up in March, others only towards the end of April.
Then the cute spiny animals are very hungry and above all thirsty.
If you want to make it easier for the nocturnal insect hunters to start a new season, you can now feed them a little at the beginning.
It should be noted, however, that their food spectrum consists almost exclusively of animal protein.
After hibernation, you can help hedgehogs by providing them with a bowl of water.
(Iconic image) © Shotshop/Imago
"Their menu includes earthworms, beetles, caterpillars, ants and other small animals, but sometimes an egg from a ground-nesting bird species - they are not choosy," explains Rüdiger Wohlers from NABU Lower Saxony.
A species-appropriate feeding of the animals should therefore be varied.
The following foods are suitable for feeding hedgehogs:
Moist cat food with a high meat content
Hedgehog dry food (available in specialist shops)
Unseasoned fried ground beef
Hard-boiled eggs or unseasoned scrambled eggs
and very important: set up a shallow bowl of water for the animals
But there are also foods that can harm hedgehogs and, in the worst case, even kill them.
For example, anyone who thinks that a bowl of milk is doing something good for the hedgehog is unfortunately completely wrong.
Because hedgehogs are naturally lactose intolerant and cannot tolerate dairy products.
But since they rarely skip a snack, they drink the milk anyway.
The result is often severe diarrhea, which can even kill the animal.
The following foods are also not suitable for hedgehogs and should never be fed:
all kind of dairy products
Cheese
nuts
fruit
raw eggs
raisins
Seasoned meat or sausage
Lettuce, carrots, tomatoes, potatoes
Hedgehogs are out and about in the garden again - build shelter for them now
To give the hedgehogs additional help, you can build them a shelter or a so-called “hedgehog castle”.
"Now is the right time to build a wooden house for the hedgehog.
Even those with little manual skills can do that,” says the conservationist.
"If the hedgehog castle is covered with branches and leaves, this is an ideal nest and an excellent wintering place later in the year," says Wohlers.
You can also find out how you can help hedgehogs overwinter.
You can get the instructions for such a hedgehog house from NABU.
If you still don't want to build one yourself, you can buy a hedgehog house in a specialist shop and set it up in the garden.
However, it is important to ensure that the location is never in a depression endangered by rainwater, but is set up on slightly elevated terrain under bushes.
Hedgehogs out and about in the garden again – robotic lawnmowers are a great danger
Hedgehog populations have been declining across Europe for years.
Anyone who wants to help with the hedgehog count can now do so via an app from the LBV.
There is another threat to the animals, which does not only affect hedgehogs: robot lawn mowers.
"We keep receiving injured hedgehogs that have obviously become victims of robotic lawnmowers," reports Bärbel Rogoschik from the NABU Species Protection Center in Leiferde.
"This is probably mainly due to the fact that the devices are left running unattended, contrary to the operating instructions - often at dusk or even at night.
But that's exactly when the nocturnal hedgehogs are out and about," says Rogoschik.
“Hedgehogs don’t run away from danger, they then literally “lock themselves in” and are run over by the robots.”
Hedgehog friends should therefore refrain from using robotic lawnmowers altogether.
If you do not want to do without it for practical reasons, you should not leave the robot lawn mower unsupervised and under no circumstances should you mow at dusk or in the dark.
