The begining page has an AI looking image of a hedgehog that looks more like the African Pygmy Hedgehog than our native European hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus), also known as the West European hedgehog.
Incorrect harmful info:-
Asks people to feed hedgehogs dog and cat food (hedgehogs are insectivores, dog and cat food contains meat derivatives, additives, and vegetables, while technically not suitable for even dogs and cats who are obligate carnivores.
For hedgehogs on the other hand...the nasty results can be seen by the mass deaths and intakes of hedgehogs since the mass public incouragement in 2019!
The The European hedgehog's (Erinaceus europaeus) natural diet is mostly slugs and snails, but can include other soil dwelling insects. (I have personally written an article with historical records, old nature diarys which document the diet, and an old newspaper article which clearly states that cat/dog food was designed as a temporary dietin veterinary or wildlife rehab settings to give poorly hedgehogs food only while recovering, it was then weaned off them before release back to the wild.
There are plenty of old nature diarys and old natural history books from the biodiversity heritage library that contain the diet of hedgehogs as far back as even 1890! The main diet consists of mainly Slugs and snails. It is important to note that hedgehogs have a natural symbiosis with their prey - slugs and snails, who'm carry well known parasites, hedgehogs have evolved a natural immunity to these parasites over hundreds of years, they use the slime to create a coating that they lick on their backs to deter ticks and fleas.
The result of mass feeding of dog and cat foods has broken this symbiosis, resulting in damage to the hedghogs immune system and thus people reguarly find them covered in ticks, fleas and vets and wildlife reacue's find them suffering from internal parasites like lung worm found in slugs (which a hedgehog would normally be immune to.) Dog and cat food was never meant as a replacement it was meant as a temporary source of food in wildlife rehab and veterinary settings only. Because of the lack of nutrients in dog and cat food i.e particular things only found in insects like chitin and only insectivore can gain from. It means hedgehogs are now being found weak, underweight and starving.
-housing- providing a wooden structure/home may seem like a great idea.. however having worked with captive hedgehogs in wildlife rescue, hedgehogs tend to get their faeces (poop) everywhere including the inside roof of a shelter. Hedgehog homes are about the same height and width. This means a hedgehog home would be covered in poop, during the summer months this would attract flys and highly likely result in fly strike! The maggots of the common blue bottle fly will eat an animal alive, even with no initial wounds, but rather attracted by the poop attatched the hedgehog through rubbing against saturated bedding and the roof of the house. Hedgehogs naturally lay under a pile of leaves under hedges and by old oak trees. It is far more better to allow nature to do what it has always done, rather than trying to provide an artificial environment and unnatural diet.
Finally regarding food- store bought hedgehog food is also a big no, again containing unnatural ingredients, one of the biggest problems is they contain dried mealworms- hedgehogs have been found having seizures and frothing at the mouth, dried mealworms cause major health problems and even death for our hedgehogs when eaten in large quantities, which regular feeding hedgehog food will do.
Feeding any wild animal will result in the animal prefering to eat the food you provide rather than its natural diet, this then directly impacts the ecosystem which relies on all to participate to create balance, unfortunetly to keep that balance everything must eat eachother from the soil upwards, grasses and plants thrive not just by being pollinated, but by being eaten, allowing them to continue to restore new growth and be healthy which in turn helps a wide range of wildlife. So lets not interfere, let hedgehogs be, stop giving them an artificial home and stop feeding them unnatural food which is killing them rather than helping them.
