You can help stop hedgehogs
You can help stop hedgehogs:
- don't encourage them into your backyard by creating burrows for them or leaving milk out
- set a suitable trap for the situation you are in (suburban or rural)
Signs hedgehogs are present
Prints are five-toed, resembling a large rat print. Forefeet are much broader and shorter in length than the hind feet, meaning there are two distinctly different prints left by the one animal.
Droppings are black (with a dark greenish colour to fresh droppings), 30-50mm long and 7-10mm wide. They are usually dryish, and usually contain tightly packed recognisable fragments of invertebrate exoskeletons (for example beetle carapaces, head or body segments).
Movement and snuffling can often be heard before a hedgehog is sighted.
Control methods
DOC uses the DOC150, DOC200 and DOC250 which are powerful and effective kill traps.
To be safely set, however, traps need to be placed inside a tunnel-like trap-box to ensure that birds, children or pets cannot get access to it. The box also orients the hedgehog in the right direction to be caught in the trap, disguises the trap, and protects it from the weather.
A simple wooden tunnel can easily be built at home.
Top box design instructions can be downloaded here:
DOC series 150 predator trap (PDF, 188K)
DOC series 200 predator trap (PDF, 187K)
DOC series 250 predator trap (PDF, 150K)
The tunnel should be placed along a natural runway so that approaching animals must either pass over the trap or turn back. Suitable sites are along fences, hedges or the banks of a stream, in bush among tree roots, beside fallen logs or in dry culverts. The entrance must be cleared of leaves and weeds.
It is preferable to bait traps, though a well-placed trap can still catch hedgehogs without bait. Fishy cat food or freshly killed rabbit or chicken is excellent but does not keep well. A longer-lasting alternative is an egg which can be left whole or broken. Alternatively two eggs can be used. Make a small hole in one egg to provide a scent and leave the second egg whole to provide a long-lasting visual lure.
Setting the trap can be a little tricky, so make sure you follow the manufacturer's instructions and take care with fingers.
It is recommended that you lay traps for hedgehogs at the beginning of the birds' breeding season, when hedgehogs may be at their most damaging, and in the autumn, when adult females can be targeted. Male hedgehogs begin hibernation much earlier than females, who delay hibernation to build up food reserves after the breeding season.
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