David Attenborough has shared advice for anyone wanting to attract hedgehogs to their garden. In a BBC Instagram clip, he explained that adding a simple opening in your fence can help these creatures travel safely and find food.
Why July is Key for Hedgehogs
July is the peak breeding and foraging period for hedgehogs in the UK, making them particularly active. They are most often seen at dusk or on warm evenings when they search for food, water, and nesting materials.
Attenborough's Top Tip
Attenborough described hedgehogs as "charming" but "not very social" and noted they can be "rare" these days. He added: "Nonetheless, urban areas are the one place where their numbers have stabilised and, with a little help from us, there's hope that they might even increase."
He explained that hedgehogs can eat up to 100g of food in a night and that creating "hedgehog highways"—holes in fences—allows them to move between gardens safely. "All across London, garden owners are putting holes in their fences, creating hedgehog highways that allow safe travel from garden to garden," he said.
How to Create a Hedgehog Highway
To make a passage, remove a brick from a wall or cut a hole roughly 13cm x 13cm at the base of wooden fence panels or wire mesh. This size is about the same as a CD case. Connecting your garden to neighbours' gardens expands the territory hedgehogs can roam for food and mates, potentially boosting sightings by around 40%.
