By Poppylinda
leicestershire,
United Kingdom 
On way to see Grandsons last monday afternoon I mentioned I had seen a Hedgehog on pavement close by.8year old ran off down road and after knocking on a door for "help"came back with it in a box(because he said it might get run over) Not yet fully grown, he put it in garden and having made itself a bed with dried leaves it appears to be staying.It has cat meat and hedgehog treats that I got from the garden center yesterday,didnt realise you could get such a thing.Now is it a good thing to encourage it or not?We have told him it will eventually need to go off to find a mate,and he will be heartbroke.Do they burrow because the garden is fenced off?
5 May, 2012
Answers
If you go over to blogs Lindak has just written a blog today all about the hedgehogs who visit her garden, I,m sure that she would be more than happy to give you some advice
5 May, 2012
YOu should make a tunnel under any fence you have - hedgehogs need to roam far and wide at night to forage for more natural food and mates. You need a space about 5 cm beneath any fence to facilitate their movement. They will dig out a tunnel themselves if they have to - they'll even chew through the bottom of a wooden barrier to get through. They also will climb, but more usually up a chain link fence, wood fence palings are much more difficult for them to climb. Good to have in a garden, they eat slugs and snails.
5 May, 2012
The British Hedgehog Preservation society is on the internet with phone advice. Plenty of sites giving advice too. I think your grandson was very clever to think this rather small hog might be harmed. After all we we used to see so many that were run over. Not any more, because so much building, and not able to get from one garden to another anymore. Please use water for drinking and not milk. It is lovely for them to see and care for a hedgehog. It has to be allowed to be a wild creature. So I hope they can understand that.
6 May, 2012
i know they have to be a certain size to servive a winter but your one seams quit big now . they are surprisingly good climbers thow unless you have a huge garden with natural parts for it to hybernate i would put a few tunnels under the fences and tell the nieghbers . thing is if it is happy in your area and you keep feeding it but dont keep handling it then theres know reasen that it wont stay put realy . they love slugs,snails and worms ,bird eggsetc . lovley creatures . i would just start to distance yourself slowly but surely .
6 May, 2012
Thanks everyone very helpful.Yes Dorjac he is very interested in nature and wildlife,and has brought a pigeon home before that had been hit by a car,he is in a wildlife club at school so I'm sure he does understand, and I have stressed to him that it WILL need to go off at some point,he's called Mr Spikey by the way.(:0))
6 May, 2012
cool bless him hes on the right track x .
7 May, 2012
Previous question
I don't think they burrow but they aren't pets and shouldn't be confined to someones garden. Wild animals are best left alone. Encourage your grandson to research British wildlife and that will help him to see the benefits of looking but not touching.
5 May, 2012