5 Simple Actions to Help Hedgehogs in North East Scotland
Help hedgehogs in North East Scotland this Hedgehog Awareness Week with these 5 easy actions. Read to learn what you can do.
These spiky little mammals are a NESBiP Big 5 priority species, yet the much loved garden visitor has declined 30-75% in rural areas since 2000. Habitat loss, reduced food availability, vehicle collisions and toxin accumulation are all contributing to their decline.
To mark Hedgehog Awareness Week (3–9 May), we’re sharing five easy actions to help hedgehogs that you can take in any green space. No matter the size of your garden, balcony or community area, you can make a real difference for a NESBiP Big 5 species.
1. Take part in No Mow May
One of the easiest simple actions to help hedgehogs is to leave your lawnmower in the shed during May. Longer grass and flowering plants provide valuable shelter and boost invertebrate populations. Slugs, snails and worms are all favourite hedgehog foods and they thrive in less tidy lawns.
2. Hedgehog Highways
Hedgehogs can travel over a mile each night in search of food. Fences and walls can block these vital routes.
If you’re able to, create a hedgehog highway by leaving a 13 × 13 cm gap at the base of a fence, wall or hedge. If cutting a hole isn’t an option (for example, if you rent), a small scrape beneath a fence can work just as well.
An easy change allows hedgehogs to move freely between gardens and habitats.
Simple actions to help hedgehogs: a small gap under a garden fence forming a hedgehog highway
Scrap under fence to connect gardens
3. Leave it wild!
Hedgehogs rely heavily on invertebrates, which thrive in natural areas. By leaving patches of your green space wild (e.g. leaf piles, log piles or uncut corners) you’re creating food-rich habitats and shelter.
These areas are especially important during wet weather and colder months. Always check carefully before mowing, strimming, tidying or lighting a bonfire, as hedgehogs may be hiding nearby.
4. Stop using pesticides
Hedgehogs are natural pest controllers; slugs and snails are a favourite snack. Using pesticides reduces their food supply and can be extremely harmful if hedgehogs ingest poisoned insects.
Avoiding pesticides is one of the most effective easy actions to help hedgehogs and benefits wider biodiversity too.
5. Add Water
Hedgehogs need access to fresh water, especially during dry spells. You don’t need a pond a shallow plant pot tray filled with water is enough to make a difference.
If you do add a pond, include gentle ramps or sloping edges so any wildlife can climb out safely. Read more about adding water to your garden on our Wildlife Gardening page.
Leaving patches wild in your garden is another simple action to help hedgehogs – Photo by Paul Guntrip
Hedgehog hole in the bottom of a fence
Make Your Green Space Part of the Solution
Leaving patches wild in your garden is another simple action to help hedgehogs thrive. Small changes, when repeated across many spaces, can have a huge impact on this priority species.
Seen a hedgehog in your area?
Your sightings help us understand how hedgehogs are doing across the North East.
👉 Learn how to report sightings and support NESBiP’s work for local wildlife.
Further ways to help wildlife with NESBiP
- 👉 Adding water for wildlife – simple options for any space
- 👉 NESBiP Big 5 species – meet the priority species of the North East
- 👉 Wildlife Friendly Gardens – actions for nature all year round
