Imagine: a summer evening, you step out onto the porch with a cup of tea and suddenly see a little gray spiky ball scurrying along the path. A hedgehog! In your garden. This is not just a nice encounter. It's a whole event for a hobby gardener and a naturalist. But what to do next? Be happy, feed it, or carefully 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 between 600 grams and one and a half kilograms and can be up to 30 centimeters long. 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 as soon as a dog or a fox gets 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 dusk falls, it goes out to hunt. And that's when 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 is beetles, caterpillars, snails, earthworms, slugs. 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 is not averse to it either. The potato beetle? It's also on the menu. 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 he is looking for worms and larvae, he digs in the ground, improving its structure. And at the same time, he does not spoil the lawn as a mole does. The traces of the hedgehog's activity are small holes up to five centimeters deep, which quickly fill in. In general, the hedgehog is useful, silent, and ecological. The ideal neighbor for a dacha dweller who does not poison the plot with chemicals.

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 droppings (excuse the naturalism, but they look like large raisins). On the paths, there are small holes — traces of night feeding. Sometimes you can hear a hiss and a thud 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 pawing. And if you're lucky, he will come out into the open space, and you will see his 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 with sweets: cookies, candies, bread. Sweets destroy the hedgehog's teeth and upset 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 hurts and then gets infected. The fifth is to take the hedgehog home to the apartment. This is a wild animal. At home, it will suffer from stress, will not sleep in winter, and will most likely die.

The best care is not to interfere. Remove dangerous objects, do not 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 will come exactly for dinner. The main rule: do not overfeed. A fat hedgehog does not survive winter well.

How does the hedgehog spend the winter

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

Dangers for the hedgehog in the garden

Unfortunately, the garden for the 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 the lawn mower and the trimmer. Every year, hundreds of hedgehogs die under the blades because they do not have time to run away. Always walk through the site before mowing and check if there is a hedgehog in the tall grass. The third danger is chemicals. Snail baits 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 is open holes, concrete wells, pools without a ramp. The hedgehog falls in and cannot 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 is weak, unsteady, or it has visible wounds — it is sick. Do not take it with bare hands, wear thick gloves. Put it in a box with rags and hay. Give it water with a syringe. And immediately contact the wildlife rehabilitation center — there are such centers in many regions. Do not try to treat yourself. Hedgehogs have many specific diseases (lyme borreliosis, capillariasis) that are also dangerous to humans. 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 it is forbidden to 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 — it is its right. And your right is to be happy and create safe conditions for it. No more than that.

Why is the hedgehog joy

Finally and most importantly: a hedgehog in the garden is a sign of a healthy ecosystem. If there are hedgehogs on your plot, it means you use little chemicals, do not burn grass, leave wild nature in the corners. This is an honor for a gardener. Moreover, watching hedgehogs calms the nerves. In the era of eternal haste, to sit on the porch in the evening with a flashlight, listen to the hiss and watch as the spiky ball diligently explores the beds — the best medicine for urban stress. And children are delighted. Start a tradition: go out to look at 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. He is not an enemy, but a helper and a neighbor. Give him a little space, don't poison snails with chemicals, remove wires and ropes. And if he wants to and comes, he 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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