Erin FoxWith the days getting darker, playtime is reduced to indoors. The upside to the darker evenings is that you are more likely to see wild animals. Go on an adventure with a parent or guardian and see if you can spot any wild animals. It depends on where you live but animals you are most likely to see are hares and hedgehogs.
You may not even have to travel far to see hedgehogs. If you are lucky then you might find a hedgehog wandering into your garden. Instead of searching for them, draw them to you and make your garden more friendly for our prickly pals.
Leave out food in a secluded part of the garden. Types of food you can feed to hedgehogs are: tinned cat or dog food (but not the gravy kind), crushed cat biscuits, dried mealworms, apples and boiled eggs. Avoid bread, dairy foods and milk as hedgehogs cannot digest these and they can become very ill. You can also buy a special type of hedgehog food from garden centres. Hedgehogs love slugs, so it's important not to sprinkle any slug pellets around the garden as these can poison hedgehogs.
Hedgehogs are protected species so creating a hedgehog resting station for the winter helps their survival and keeps them away from the roads, particularly baby hedgehogs who are more vulnerable. Their hibernation period is between November and March but you can always set up a feeding and resting station early.
Leave a shallow bowl of fresh water outside the feeding station and make sure to change the water every day.
To make the feeding station, you can simply place a bowl of food under a tile, or a board against a wall to keep cats away from the food. If you get bigger animals such as foxes roaming the garden, set up a more robust feeding station. You can either buy one or build your own. Pile up wooden logs or bricks to create a frame leaving a gap for the entrance. Ensure the entrance is facing a wall or fence. Place a large board on top of this and weigh down with a brick. Place the food at the very back of the station so cats or foxes can't reach it.
If you find an injured hedgehog in the garden, it's best to take it to the nearest animal rescue centre.