Weather’s been good to hedgehogs

Over the past few years, there has been a great deal of talk about the decline of hedgehogs in both urban and rural habitats in the UK.

As a child growing up in the village of Llanwddyn near Lake Vyrnwy, we had hedgehogs coming into our garden every summer, often with a handful of youngsters in tow. These days, I’m lucky if I see more than two or three live hedgehogs in a year but this autumn, following the unseasonably mild weather, I saw 5 different hedgehogs within three miles of my house, all of which looked healthy and well-fed.

I’m sure the abundance of food and warm weather meant that they could pile on enough weight before going into hibernation and thankfully, not one has been seen dead on the local country lanes.

Having recently cut my hedge, I’ve created a large pile of thin branches, dried leaves and grasses in the corner of my garden and I’d like to think that at least one of the hogs is safely curled up at the bottom of the pile waiting for the weather to warm up once again.