What do Hedgehogs Eat?
The Hedgehog
You've all seen them. Those snuffling, reserved, timid little garden creatures, covered with spines but with a shiny black nose. The common or garden hedgehog, or Erinaceus Europaeus as the zoologists would say.
Perhaps you're curious as to what these lovely animals eat in the wilds of your back garden, or perhaps you'd just like to know what to feed them. Either way, you're just gasping to know, what do hedgehogs eat?
In The Wild
When they're snuffling around your garden, hedgehogs are a gardener's best friend, as they eat insects and slugs that might otherwise damage plant life, acting almost as a natural pest controller. But they're not fussy animals: they will also eat mushrooms, worms, lava, berries, snails, plant roots, or even frogs or toads!
Feeding a Hedgehog
The traditional food that people leave out for hedgehogs is bread soaked in milk, however this has far too high a fat content for their diet, contains nowhere near enough protein, and can give them stomach pains. If you want to leave food outside for a hedgehog, the best bet is cat food, although many experts suggest avoiding leaving out too much food for hedgehogs as this prevents them from helping rid your garden of pests.
Do leave out water for hedgehogs. They do often drink from ponds too, however pond owners should always provide hedgehogs a way to escape the pond should they fall in- hedgehogs can swim, as can all mammals, however where the sides of a pond are slippery they may well struggle to get out and end up drowning.