Questions people actually ask

Never give milk. Hedgehogs are lactose intolerant and milk can make them very ill. source

BHPS advice: offer good-quality meaty hedgehog food, meaty cat or dog food, or dry cat biscuits — and water. source

A gap 13 cm × 13 cm (about a CD case) is all a hedgehog needs to pass between gardens. source

A hedgehog sunbathing or looking "drunk" needs urgent help — the wobbly ones are hypothermic. Exceptions to the daylight rule: nesting or nursing mothers, out briefly and moving purposefully. source

The BHPS helpline is 01584 890 801. source

Hedgehogs usually hibernate from around October/November to March/April, depending on the weather. source

A European hedgehog carries roughly 5,000–7,000 spines, each about 2–3 cm long. source

On the 2020 Red List for Britain's Mammals the hedgehog is Vulnerable in Great Britain, England, Scotland and Wales. source

Manx Wildlife Trust counts fourteen land mammal species with self-sustaining populations on the Island (excluding bats and seals) — very few of them native. source

A wild European hedgehog can live more than ten years, but average life expectancy is about three. source

Hedgehog Street, run by PTES and the BHPS, counts 19 species in five genera. source

Hedgehog fleas are host-specific and won't settle on you, your cat or your dog. source

Don't take a healthy hedgehog from the wild to "keep" in your garden — they range up to two miles a night and it is illegal to take them without good reason. source

The RSPCA says African pygmy hedgehogs are wild, solitary and nocturnal with complex needs, and do not make suitable pets. source

Hedgehogs are good swimmers but can drown if they cannot climb out of a steep-sided pond. source

Slug pellets, pesticides and poisons can kill hedgehogs and damage the food chain they rely on. source