What does a hedgehog shelter look like? Teacher question to students: Where do you think different animals live? Foxes, squirrels, badgers, HEDGEHOGS?

The life of a hedgehog! Where do Hedgehogs live? How long will a baby Hedgehog live with their mum for? What is a Hedgehog’s favourite food? There are many species of Hedgehog-17 in fact!. They live in different continents: Europe, Asia, Africa and in New Zealand. However, there are no Hedgehogs that are native in Australia or in the Americas. Hedgehogs like to live on their own, except for when the mum is rearing her babies. When a female hedgehog is pregnant, the gestation period is between 31 to 35 days and their babies will be born with their spines just underneath their skin. Babies are fed by the mother for the first four weeks, the mother’s milk provides essential nutrient for babies to grow fit and healthy. After the the first four weeks, they begin exploring to with their mother to find small insects to eat. They are usually weaned after about 8 weeks. When the Hedgehog has matured it will eat a variety of foods including fruit, bread, meat scraps, seeds under bird tables and biscuits. This is in addition to insects and worms. Hedgehogs have a long lifespan for their size and tend to live between 4 to 7 years in the wild. They have poor eyesight and will get startled and scuttle away. They tolerate humans, but will roll into a ball if they get too frightened, or are in danger. Hedgehogs like to live in woodland, hedgerows and meadows. They will also be found in gardens, in long grass, and even under sheds! The life of a hedgehog!

Where does a hedgehog live and sleep? During hibernation in winter and also sleeping during the rest of the year Hedgehogs typically sleep in specially built nests that they make. These nests are made of natural material such as leaves twigs, moss and dry grass. Nests can be found in different places; in undergrowth, under sheds, in unlit bonfires or in piles of leaves. Hedgehogs will only sleep or hibernate in their nests and not elsewhere. The best places for Hedgehogs nests are areas that have adequate shelter and where there is plentiful food. As such, areas that are „too tidy” i.e. that do not have enough natural materials to build nests, are not suitable. Additionally, intensively farmed areas are not suitable as they are disturbed too often.Some areas where you might find Hedgehogs are quiet farmland, parks and gardens

What is hibernation? Hibernation is a dormant state undertaken typically by animals living in cold climates. You can think of Hibernation as a really deep sleep that lasts all winter. Such animals hibernate during wintertime.

Why do hedgehogs hibernate? What to say: During winter there is very little food available for Hedgehogs. Question to ask children: Why is there little food available? (answer: it is winter, there are less plants etc.) For this reason, before winter starts, Hedgehogs prepare to hibernate: they eat a lot of food to make a lot of a fat in their bodies so that their bodies have a source of energy for a long time. They prepare a safe shelter to sleep in and the sleep until the winter is over and more food is available again. Hedgehogs normally hibernate from October/November until March/April. Sometimes hedgehogs wake up once in the middle of the winter to have a quick snack and then go back to sleep! Why do hedgehogs hibernate?

How can we help hedgehogs 1. Avoid using chemicals in your garden that may harm hedgehogs 2. Make sure hedgehogs have easy access to your garden- you can make sure there are little “hedgehog holes” in your fences so they can pass through! 3. Give hedgehogs some fresh water and food e.g. cat or dog food 4. Make a hedgehog shelter that they can use during winter 5. Check your long grass before your strim/mow in case there is a hedgehog hiding 6. Compost heap as hedgehogs love to hide and this is a safe and warm place to hide. 7. Hedgehogs love to hide in unlit bonfires so please check them before you light them! 8. Dispose of litter responsibly so as not to injure hedgehogs! 9. Hedgehogs are good swimmers and like to take a dip in ponds so ensure that any ponds in your garden have sloped sides so hedgehogs can get out easily 10. If you have large territorial animals in your garden (e.g a dog) then your garden may not be suitable for a hedgehog home. As hedgehogs also like to travel please consider if your neighbours also have such dogs! How can we help hedgehogs

Let’s build a hedgehog shelter! A hedgehog house made from a cardboard box… So now that we know the different ways humans can help hedgehogs we are going to make our own hedgehog shelter!

How to make our hedgehog shelter 6 steps to making a hedgehog house… 1. Get a big, thick cardboard box 2. Cut two side air vents about 15cm by 5cm and an entrance of 13cm square. 3. Put some dry leaves or straw inside with clean, dry grass or straw on top 4. The top of the box should then be covered with a small piece of plastic sheeting. 5. Keep the box in the classroom as a model (or place it temporary outdoor) 6. Hide it using natural materials In the classroom, place a model hedgehog in your shelter! British Hedgehog Preservation Society Note: a cardboard box covered with plastic will not sustain severe winter conditions. It can be used in a garden as a temporary shelter but not as an hibernation nest. If hiding the shelter outside, > Tuck the box near a hedge, if possible with the entrance facing South. Twigs should be put all round to make a dome and then covered with dry grass and leaves. See British Hedgehog Preservation Society for more durable shelter construction instruction: https://www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk/leaflets/L5-Hedgehog-Homes.pdf

Picture References https://www.stevedocwra.co.uk/Stevedocwraphotography/Norfolk-Woodland https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Baby_Erinaceus_europaeus_(1).jpg http://www.geograph.ie/photo/2018463 https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/5669393 https://www.publicdomainpictures.net/en/view-image.php?image=30129 https://pxhere.com/en/photo/1220691 https://www.flickr.com/photos/ijammin/4467187922 https://pixnio.com/fauna-animals/grass-nature-hedgehog https://pixnio.com/fauna-animals/hedgehog https://www.flickr.com/photos/billdamon/9395111213 https://pxhere.com/en/photo/712570 https://www.flickr.com/photos/cogdog/2523436670/ https://www.birdsandbees.co.uk/hedgehog-house