Many folks breathe a huge sigh of relief after discovering hedgehogs in their gardens since the wild creatures offer many benefits. However, the hedgehogs may stop coming suddenly without explanation and multiple theories for the disappearing act could pop up with little chance of confirmation.

This article answers the question “Why Has My Hedgehog Stopped Coming?” by discussing potential reasons that could inhibit hedgehogs from continuing to visit your property. We also look into whether active steps should be taken to attract new hedgehogs to your garden.

Why Has My Hedgehog Stopped Coming?

Hedgehogs may stop coming to your garden because of blocked highways, winter hibernation, or the discovery of alternative areas for temporary food foraging. Unfortunately, the stopovers can also cease as a result of the hedgehogs dying from natural causes or predatory attacks.

Hedgehog populations can do wonders for backyard gardens by acting as natural pest control. That explains why many folks try to make the nightly visitors feel welcome by leaving out a bowl of food and water to shore up their nutritional base.

Waking up to an empty food bowl each morning is often a sign that the visitors made an appearance the previous night. If the food bowl remains untouched for a few nights in a row it can be safely assumed that the hedgehogs have stopped coming.

Confusion and heartbreak become inevitable, especially among gardeners that go out of their way to make visiting hedgehogs feel welcome.

5 Reasons Why Hedgehogs Stop Visiting Friendly Gardens

Here are the 5 main reasons why hedgehogs may have stopped visiting your property unexpectedly.

1. Blocked Highways

Hedgehog highways are gaps specifically created under boundary fencing to enable free hedgehog movements in and out of your property. These gaps may accidentally or intentionally get blocked by neighbors who disapprove of feeding visiting wildlife.

The result is the wild hedgehogs are forced to find alternative food elsewhere when they are denied access to your garden. Since hedgehogs are not lazy foragers, they simply keep looking around for other areas where food and water are abundant. (Source)

2. Winter Hibernation

Hedgehogs hibernate by going into prolonged sleep where minimal resources like energy are expended to preserve fat stores during winter when food sources become non-existent. Hibernating is a reflex action that occurs when hedgehogs are exposed to low temperatures for some time.

Hedgehogs could essentially hibernate even while en route to or from your garden resulting in the temporary suspension of their visits. The stopovers may resume once the hedgehogs come out of hibernation assuming they survive the harsh conditions on the ground.

3. Alternative Food Sources

Sometimes, hedgehogs stop coming to your garden because they’ve found alternative feeding stations. It could be close to your garden or further out but know that other gardeners may also be interested in feeding wild hedgehogs.

Your competitors’ lands could be relatively more accessible or feature more attractive amenities like ponds. If rival property owners are creating hedgehog houses and feeding stations alongside other amenities, their properties could be in pole position to win the hedgehogs’ attention resulting in the abandonment of your garden.

4. Predatory Attacks

Hedgehogs may not be the only visitors to your garden at night and unfortunately, predators like ferrets, foxes, and European eagles could also trespass. The visiting hedgehogs could become targets for these predators.

Your beloved wild hedgehogs may have been eaten by predators either in your garden or in other areas of the woods and this could account for the sudden no-shows.

Hedgehogs are some of the smallest animals in the wild but their survival instincts always reign supreme, especially in life-threatening situations. Even hedgehogs that successfully repel attacks from predators on your property are likely to be spooked into never returning.

Your garden could be marked as “unsafe” despite how welcoming the hedgehogs may have felt in the past. The chances of the same hedgehogs returning in the near future can be slim.

5. Sickness or Death From Natural Causes

Hedgehog movements can be severely restricted due to ill health which may explain why the nightly visits have stopped. Sick hedgehogs are forced to spend their days and nights resting in woodlands, tree barks, and other areas to evade attention from predators.

Weakening organs and dehydration become inevitable due to the indisposed hedgehogs’ inability to travel to find food and water. Their organs weaken by the day and death occurs eventually unless their immune system is able to stave off the condition.

Hedgehogs may have stopped coming to your garden because of severe illness that restricts their movements or even death from natural causes. Unfortunately, verifying what exactly happened to the hedgehogs is impossible and but the knowledge that you made them happy while the visits lasted can be a nice consolation.

Will A Hedgehog Come Back?

Hedgehogs may come back to your garden depending on the underlying reasons for their absence. For instance, if the hedgehog is hibernating in another part of the woods during winter, the probability of coming back to your property when warm weather returns can be high.

Do Hedgehogs Come Out Every Night?

Hedgehogs come out every night to travel 2-3 km in search of food. Even those resting in hedgehog houses on your property are likely to go out after emptying their food bowl’s contents, especially during mating season to find members of the opposite sex.

If your hedgehogs are failing to come out at night, that could be a sign of trouble and further investigations may be necessary.

How Do You Attract Hedgehogs?

There are several ways to attract wild hedgehogs to your garden and a few include:

• Create hedgehog highways
• Put food and water out after dusk
• Avoid the use of pesticides
• Build a hedgehog house
• Discourage dogs from the property or put them on a leash

How Do You Know If A Hedgehog Needs Help?

Hedgehogs that come out during the day are often in trouble and need to be scooped up and transported to the nearest rescue center immediately. Hedgehogs found lying down on their backs with a genuine appearance of discomfort could also be in a lot of trouble that requires urgent veterinary care.

What Time In The Evening Do Hedgehogs Come Out?

Hedgehogs typically come out after sunset often around 8 pm to eat, drink water, and socialize with members of the opposite sex after traveling 2-3 kilometers.

Conclusion: Why Has My Hedgehog Stopped Coming?

Hedgehogs may stop coming to your property due to multiple reasons including highway blockages, predatory attacks, and hibernation during winter. Other explanations for the disappearance of the visitors include sickness or death from natural causes.

Investigating the underlying reasons for the stopped visits could ensure the right changes are made to attract more hedgehog stopovers in the near future. For instance, if hedgehogs have stopped coming due to blocked highways by your neighbors, speaking to them to remove the obstacles for free hedgehog movements could spark a new wave of hedgehog visits to your property.