Seasonal Advice for Hedgehogs
SPRING
April May June
Hedgehogs have recently woken up (not all will have hibernated)
They are thirsty and hungry, their bodies will need replenishment.
The courtship and mating season has begun, (with global warming, a lot of hedgehog's don’t hibernate or sleep for long and are mating earlier. Rescues are finding the hoglet season which used to start around June onwards, is now a month earlier)
Hoglets can be born from May right through the Summer and sometimes those who had early litters, or lose theirs, have a second litter in September.
There is plenty of natural food source now in the wild.
SUMMER
July August September
Mother and babies leave the nest and she shows them how to find their food, avoid dangers and where to nest. Those born early are suddenly on their own and often found out in the day struggling to find a water or a source of food.
Sometimes parasitic problems, round worn, fluke or lungworm can be passed onto hoglets leaving them weak and sick, often ending up at a rescue, if they are lucky enough to be found in time.
More litters are born in September.
These hoglets struggle to survive without a rescue intervention.
AUTUMN
October November December
All hedgehogs sense the food source is diminishing and temperatures are cooling down. They seek out as much food as they can to try and pile on the fat reserves, it needs to see them through hibernation. It’s called a ‘brown fat’ and lies across the shoulders and back.
They search for an ideal safe location to make their nest. Gathering leaves, dry grasses, moss, garden debris, twigs and even bits of rubbish and plastics. They make wonderful nests called a hibernaculum. They are woven round into a circle, like a giant bird's nest on its side, they are waterproof and secure to see them through their long hibernation.
If we have sudden spells of frost in October, some go into hibernation at that point, but usually it’s November to December depending on the climate.
WINTER
January February March
Often during the hibernating period, they may wake, find water or a nibble of food then go back to sleep. If they have not piled on that ‘brown fat’ they can die during hibernation, struggle, get very weak and be susceptible to illness.
The autumn juveniles, the ‘late litter’ hoglets, will not survive hibernation unless they have reached a good weight around 550g-650g.
These are the hedgehogs that the Mother has left when roughly 8 weeks old. When born in the Summer months they thrive and it’s often November time they are on their own. Weighing around 250g these are the autumn juveniles that are brought to rescues and kept awake until they reach 650-700g, then allowed to hibernate being released in the Spring.
By the end of February their fat reserves have gone and they are desperate to find water and food. This is when support feeding really helps hedgehogs.