Hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus)
The best time to a hedgehog house house is during the summer; a home suitably 'decked out' will provide an ideal place for the hedgehog to hibernate and in spring when they mate, a house will provide an ideal place to give birth and bring up young ensuring they stay in your garden.
The best way to make a house would be to use old floorboards from a demolition agent. These will provide sufficient thickness and will be already weathered. The boards need to be about 1" thick and the good thing about making a hedgehog house is that you do not need to be a DIY expert. As long as the internal dimensions are about right, the hedgehog won't care.
The entrance tunnel need not be made form wood; brick, stones pavers or similar will also suffice. The inside should be lined with layers of newspapers about 1" thick with the rest of the internal space being loosely filled with hay. The hedgehog will soon arrange this to form a small cocoon like hole.
You will need the following materials to build your hedgehog house:
approximately 10m of old floorboards, 10m of baton, galvanized clout (roofing) nails, about 0.5m of wastepipe 2.5cms in diameter, some roofing felt or waterproof sheeting, plus plenty of patience. Dimensions will vary depending on the size and thickness of the boarding used. When finished you should cover the hedgehog house to form a mound with natural material.
Here is the plan to build your own hedgehog house.
