The old wives tale of feeding bread and milk to hedgehogs is still believed by many today. Milk is NOT healthy for hedgehogs as they have difficulty in digesting most types. Young hedgehogs need a special milk replacement that is then mixed to match that of their natural mothers.

Adult hedgehogs are perfectly fine drinking water and should not be given milk anyway. So please do not feed hedgehogs bread and milk.

Studies on hedgehogs have shown that young hedgehogs which weigh less than 600 grams after the 31st October have a significantly lower chance of surviving the winter hibernation than those over 600 grams.

If you find a small hedgehog in your garden and think it might be too small to survive hibernation then, using gloves, you can check its weight. If its under 600 grams please give us a ring and we will advise you further as it may need specialist care over the winter period.

East Sussex WRAS does not encourage members of the public to try over wintering hedgehogs themselves unless they have been trained to do so.

At anytime of the year, if a hedgehog is found out during the daytime, it is highly likely that there will be something wrong with it. If you are not sure if a hedgehogs is injured or ill, give us a ring for advice, as soon as possible.

WRAS has been called out to numerous members of the public who have tried to look after, tame or over winter hedgehogs. One person was keeping a hedgehog in a greenhouse thinking it would stay warm enough! This is not adequate. Inappropriate care, which causes an animal to suffer, is a criminal offence.

East Sussex WRAS has carers who are trained in hedgehog care. WRAS also works with other wildlife rescue centres around the county including Folly Wildlife Rescue at Crowborough and Kit Wilson Trust near Heathfield.
Healthy Hedgehogs make unhappy Prisoners!

Do you want to make your garden safer for hedgehogs and encourage them to visit and perhaps nest in your garden?

For a free booklet about hedgehogs and the British Hedgehog Preservation Society send an SAE (to hold A5 booklet i.e. 6" x 9") to:

Hundreds of hedgehogs and birds die from slug pellet poisoning. This can be avoided. Many gardeners don't mind killing slugs, either by using poisonous slug pellets that kill other wildlife or by other more natural methods using parasites or nematodes that enter the slugs and start multiplying within, this eventually kills them. However, many gardeners want a humane non-cruel approach that will stop slugs without harming them or other wildlife.

There are various ways in which you can put in place barriers which will stop the slugs reaching the plants you want to protect. No anti-slug product is 100% successful - not even slug pellets - and you will of course have to re-apply the product after varying lengths of time. There are also tools available so that you don't even have to touch the slugs or snails!