Imagine: a summer evening, you step out onto the porch with a cup of tea and suddenly see a tiny, gray, spiky ball scurrying along the path. A hedgehog! In your garden. This is not just a pleasant encounter. It's a whole event for a garden enthusiast and a naturalist. But what to do next? Be happy, feed it, or gently shoo it away? Let's figure it out.

Who is the garden hedgehog

Most often, in gardens in the middle latitudes of Russia, you can find the common hedgehog. This creature weighs from 600 grams to one and a half kilograms and can grow up to 30 centimeters in length. Its main weapon and protection are its spines, of which there can be up to five thousand. Each spine is hollow inside, with a muscle that raises it in case of danger. In a calm state, the spines lie along the body, and the hedgehog looks like a fluffy creature. But if a dog or a fox comes close, the hedgehog instantly rolls into a ball, the spines stand on end, and it's painful to touch it.

The hedgehog is a nocturnal animal. During the day, it sleeps in a secluded place: under tree roots, in a pile of twigs, or in an old burrow. And as night falls, it goes out to hunt. This is where the most interesting begins. Contrary to children's fairy tales, the hedgehog does not carry apples and mushrooms on its spines. This is a myth. In fact, it is a predator. Its natural diet consists of beetles, caterpillars, slugs, earthworms, snails. And that's why the hedgehog is the best friend of a gardener.

Why is a hedgehog in the garden good

If you are fighting snails that eat cabbage and strawberries, the hedgehog will be your ally. In one night, it can eat up to 200 grams of insects and mollusks. The Colorado beetle? The hedgehog doesn't turn its nose up at it either. The potato bug? It's on the menu too. The larvae of the May beetle that chew on roots? The hedgehog digs them out of the ground with amazing perseverance. So this spiky creature is a natural sanitarian who works for free and around the clock (or rather, around the night).

Moreover, the hedgehog aerates the soil. When it searches for worms and larvae, it digs in the ground, improving its structure. And it doesn't damage the lawn as much as a mole does. The traces of the hedgehog's activity are small holes up to five centimeters deep, which close quickly. In general, the hedgehog is useful, silent, and ecological. The ideal neighbor for a dacha dweller who doesn't use chemicals on the site.

How to understand that a hedgehog has settled in your garden

The signs are not complicated. In the morning, you find small black shiny berries — this is the hedgehog's feces (excuse the naturalism). On the paths, there are small holes — traces of night feeding. Sometimes you can hear whistling and footsteps behind the wall of the pavilion or under the porch. At night, if you sit quietly on a bench, you can hear the hedgehog puffing and flicking its paws. And if you're lucky, it will come out into an open space, and you will see its shadow against the moon. A magical sight.

Mistakes of kind-hearted hosts

The biggest mistake is to put a bowl of milk. Milk is a poison for a hedgehog. Adult hedgehogs do not have an enzyme that breaks down lactose. Milk causes severe diarrhea, dehydration, and within a few days, the animal can die. The second mistake is to feed it sweet things: cookies, candies, bread. Sweetness destroys the hedgehog's teeth and ruins its stomach. The third mistake is to leave old nets, ropes, pieces of film on the site. A hedgehog can get tangled in them and die. The fourth is to try to pick up the animal with bare hands. The hedgehog is not aggressive, but its spines can prick. And if it bites, it's painful and then gets inflamed. The fifth is to take the hedgehog home to your apartment. This is a wild animal. At home, it will suffer from stress, won't sleep in winter, and will most likely die.

The best care is not to interfere. Remove dangerous objects, don't feed harmful things, leave access to water (clean water in a bowl, no milk). And watch from a distance.

How to feed correctly

If you still want to feed the hedgehog (for example, in a dry summer when there are few worms), do it correctly. The best food is dry or wet cat food without sauces, pieces of boiled chicken without salt, quail eggs, minced boiled meat. You can buy special food for insectivores at a pet store. Put the food in the evening when the hedgehog wakes up. And definitely next to it — a bowl of clean water. Feed at the same time, then the hedgehog will get used to it and come exactly for dinner. The main rule: don't overfeed. A fat hedgehog doesn't survive winter well.

How hedgehogs spend winter

In the fall, when it gets cold, the hedgehog starts looking for a place for winter hibernation. It chooses a dry, secluded place: a pile of leaves, an old log with a hollow, an empty space under boards. It fills it with dry grass and moss, rolls into a ball, and falls asleep from October to November until March to April. In sleep, its body temperature drops from 34 to 2 degrees. Its heart beats at 6-8 beats per minute. It breathes once every few minutes. It can wake up only from strong heat. If you accidentally find a sleeping hedgehog while cleaning the garden — don't touch it. If the animal wakes up in winter, it will die. Carefully cover it with leaves and go away.

Dangers for hedgehogs in the garden

Unfortunately, the garden for a hedgehog is not only a dining table but also a battlefield. The main enemies are dogs and cats. A dog can bite the hedgehog, tearing the ball apart. A cat can injure it with its claws. The second danger is a lawnmower and a trimmer. Every year, hundreds of hedgehogs die under the blades because they don't have time to run away. Always walk around the site before mowing and check if there is a hedgehog sleeping in tall grass. The third danger is chemicals. Slugicides and insecticides that you sprinkle on the beds get into the hedgehog's body through the snails and beetles it eats. The animal is poisoned and dies. The fourth danger is open holes, concrete wells, swimming pools without a ramp. The hedgehog falls in and can't get out.

Make the garden safe: fence off dangerous places, remove chemicals, mow carefully. And the hedgehog will repay you with a rich harvest without snails.

What to do if you find a wounded or sick hedgehog

What to do if you see a hedgehog during the day? A normal hedgehog sleeps during the day. If it wanders through the grass at noon, it's weak, unsteady, or it has visible wounds — it's sick. Don't take it with bare hands, put on thick gloves. Place it in a box with rags and hay. Give it water with a syringe. And immediately contact a wildlife rehabilitation center — there are such centers in many regions. Don't try to treat it yourself. Hedgehogs have many specific diseases (lyme borreliosis, capillariasis) that are dangerous for humans as well. Wash your hands thoroughly with soap after contact with a sick hedgehog.

The hedgehog and the law

The common hedgehog is not listed in the Red Book of Russia, but in some regions — in regional red books. For example, in the Moscow region, the hedgehog is protected. This means that you cannot catch, kill, or keep a hedgehog at home without permission. The fine is up to several tens of thousands of rubles. So, if a hedgehog comes to your garden on its own — that's its right. And your right is to be happy and create safe conditions for it. No more than that.

Why is a hedgehog joy

Finally and most importantly: a hedgehog in the garden is a sign of a healthy ecosystem. If there are hedgehogs on your site, it means you use little chemicals, don't burn grass, leave wild nature in its place. This is an honor for a gardener. Moreover, watching hedgehogs calms the nerves. In the era of eternal haste, sit on the porch in the evening with a flashlight, listen to the puffing and watch as the spiky ball diligently explores the beds — the best medicine for city stress. And children are thrilled. Start a tradition: go out to watch the "hedgehog path" in June in the evening. It's cheaper than an aquarium, more fun than a TV, and much more ecological.

So don't chase the hedgehog. It's not an enemy, but a helper and a neighbor. Give it a little space, don't use chemicals to kill snails, remove wires and ropes. And if it happens and it wants to — it will come to you on the light of the lantern. And then your dacha life will become a little more magical.

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