THE dangers facing hedgehogs in gardens this coming winter are being highlighted by a Bude-based group.

Born to be Wild is not a registered charity but is run independently by Sue Gear, who takes in animals like hedgehogs, owls and other creatures who need caring for.

As the cold weather starts to set in hedgehogs will be searching for places to hibernate. Areas in gardens like, log piles and pampas grass are ideal nesting grounds for them.

Pampas grass is usually burned and log piles become bonfires — there are unfortunate cases of hedgehogs being burned alive as gardeners have been unaware of their presence.

The advice given by Sue is for anyone planning to burn or discard of rubbish to take care to look in any pile before burning it to ensure there are no creatures inside.?She suggests wood be stored somewhere and built into a bonfire on the day to avoid this.

Hedgehogs can have two litters a year, the first being around May the second near September. Half the hogglets born later in the year will not survive infancy with less time to prepare for hibernation.

Sue said: “The mum usually has a litter of four to five little hogglets but occasionally more. I rescued a litter of six this year from a camp site after the gardener had accidently destroyed the nest site, using a very large strimmer. One of the babies had been cut badly by the strimmer.”

The destruction of their natural habitats by the building of new homes, roads and an increase in traffic is affecting survival rates, along with pesticides and poisons spread on gardens which can be passed up the food chain affecting ecosystems.

The public can help increase hogglets’ chance of survival by putting out food to help them prepare for winter — meaty cat or dog foods in jelly are best, avoiding fish flavoured foods and gravy bases as they cannot digest these. Dry meaty cat biscuits are also advisable.

If any hogglets are found to be much smaller than 400 grams the public should contact a local hedgehog carer as they will need ‘over-wintering’ which means being kept warm and fed throughout the winter so they can be released in the spring.

For more advice and to find a local rehabilitator contact BHPS on 01584 890801 or visit the website at www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk