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

What is a garden hedgehog

Most often, in the gardens of central Russia, you can find the common hedgehog. This creature weighs between 600 grams and 1.5 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 as soon as a dog or a fox approaches, 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. 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 doesn't shy away from it either. The potato bug? 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. That is, this spiky creature is a natural sanitarian who works for free and around the clock (or rather, around the night).

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

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 excrement (excuse the naturalism). On the paths, there are small holes — signs 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 snorting and pawing. And if you're lucky, it will come out into the 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 poison to 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 sweets: cookies, candies, bread. Sweets destroy the hedgehog's teeth and damage its stomach. The third mistake is to leave old nets, ropes, and 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 inflamed. The fifth is to take the hedgehog home to the 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 it 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, during 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, chopped boiled meat. You can buy special feed for insectivores at a pet store. Put the food in the evening when the hedgehog wakes up. And be sure to put a bowl of clean water next to it. Feed at the same time, so the hedgehog will get used to it and come exactly for dinner. The main rule: don't overfeed. A fat hedgehog does not tolerate winter well.

How does a hedgehog 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, a gap under the boards. It fills it with dry grass and moss, rolls into a ball, and falls asleep from October to November until March or 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 persistent 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 the hedgehog in the garden

Unfortunately, the garden for the hedgehog is not just a dining room 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 don't have time to run away. Always walk through the plot before mowing and check if there is a hedgehog in the tall grass. The third danger is chemicals. Slugs and insects are killed by the poisons you sprinkle on the beds, and the hedgehog 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 thank 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, looks weak, stumbles, or has visible wounds — it is sick. Don't pick it up 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. Don't try to treat it yourself. Hedgehogs have many specific diseases (lyme borreliosis, capillariasis) that are also dangerous to humans. After contact with a sick hedgehog, wash your hands thoroughly with soap.

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 — that's its right. And your right is to be happy and create safe conditions for it. No more than that.

Why a hedgehog is joy

Last but not least: a hedgehog in the garden is a sign of a healthy ecosystem. If there are hedgehogs on your plot, it means you use little chemistry, don't burn grass, leave wild nature in the corners. It is an honor for a gardener. Moreover, watching hedgehogs calms the nerves. In the era of eternal haste, sit on the porch with a flashlight in the evening, listen to the snorting and watch as the spiky ball diligently explores the beds — the best medicine for city stress. And children are thrilled. Establish 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 you're lucky and it wants to, it will come out to you under the flashlight. And then your dacha life will become a little bit more magical.

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