Confused hedgehogs are coming out of hibernation too early, risking their chances of survival.
The mammals’ deep winter sleep usually ends in mid-March.
But already hedgehog watchers are reporting the hogs are waking from their rest.
During hibernation a hedgehog drops its body temperature and heart rate to a minimum.
However, waking up needs lots of energy – and that means food.
Sadly, there is little around in the early Spring.
People are being urged to put out fresh water and cat or kitten biscuits to see the hogs through the next few weeks.
”Fay Vass, chief executive of the British Hedgehog Preservation Society, told the Daily Telegraph:
“Waking uses a lot of their fat stores up, so offering food helps to build this back up.
“If it turns cold again and they go back into hibernation, they will need to have enough in their store to wake back up again.
“When they hibernate, their heart rate drops from around 190 beats per minute to around just 20 and respiration almost stops, breathing only once every few minutes.
“To rouse from such a state of torpor uses lots of energy.
“If it’s mild early on they might appear earlier, as they seem to be doing this year.
“But if it stays cold later, they may well stay put for longer.
“Hedgehogs are starting to appear with the weather being quite mild and they’re a bit earlier than some years.
“They will be hungry and thirsty, so offering some meaty cat or dog food or cat biscuits and some water for them to drink will help them replenish their reserves.
“Offering food and water in shallow bowls in the garden is great – you can even make a feeding station to deter cats etc from ‘pinching’ the food.”
Rob Stoneman, director of landscape recovery at The Wildlife Trusts, said:
“Sometimes hedgehogs wake during winter to top up their food reserves.
“Warmer winters mean hedgehogs can wake up more regularly, or too early from hibernation.
“Extreme weather events such as flooding can also kill hedgehogs while they sleep.
“One of the best things is by making your garden or outside space a bit wilder.
“Hedgehogs need long grass, log stacks and piles of leaves to hide and feed in, while holes at the bottom of garden fences are important so they can move around.”
Sixty years ago, there were an estimated 50 million hedgehogs in Britain.
Now the number is fewer than a million.
Mr Stoneman said:
“With their coat of prickles and inquisitive nose, alongside a penchant for snuffling around our back gardens snaffling up slugs and earthworms, hedgehogs are a childhood memory of delight.
“Sadly, hedgehogs might be banished to memories alone and lost as a source of wonder for our children and grandchildren.”
