What Happens to Hedgehogs in Autumn?

September 9, 2026

Understanding hedgehog behaviour as the seasons change

There's something quite lovely about spotting a hedgehog in the garden on an autumn evening.

You might hear the snuffling first. Then, if you're lucky, you'll see a little prickly shape making its way through the flower beds, underneath the hedge or across the lawn.

But autumn is about much more than a hedgehog simply wandering around looking for dinner.

For hedgehogs, this is a crucial time of year. The nights are getting colder and natural food is becoming harder to find, so they need to make the most of what is available and build up the reserves they will rely on during hibernation.

In RSPB Pocket Book of Hedgehogs, Hugh Warwick describes autumn as the time when hedgehogs need to build up as much fat as possible to get through hibernation.

So, what is actually happening to our hedgehogs as autumn arrives?

If you'd like to provide a more secure, purpose-built shelter, a hedgehog house can offer a quiet place for resting, nesting and hibernating.

Autumn is all about food

If you've got a hedgehog visiting your garden, you may notice it becoming particularly active at this time of year.

There's a good reason for that.

Hedgehogs need to put on fat before they hibernate. They are carnivores and naturally hunt a wide range of small animals, particularly invertebrates.

Beetles make up a particularly significant part of their diet, with earwigs, caterpillars, millipedes and worms also featuring.

This makes an autumn garden surprisingly useful.

Fallen leaves, long grass, log piles, hedges and areas of dense planting can all provide habitat for the small creatures hedgehogs feed on.

So if your garden is looking a little less tidy than it did in July, don't rush to clear everything away.

That natural mess could be doing some very useful work.

Hedgehogs don't collect food for winter

Here's one of those classic hedgehog stories that sounds perfectly believable.

You've probably seen pictures of hedgehogs carrying apples or other pieces of fruit on their spines.

It isn't true.

Hedgehogs don't use their spines to collect food and take it back to their nests for the winter. Warwick explains that when hedgehogs are found amongst fallen fruit, they're generally interested in the invertebrates attracted to it rather than the fruit itself.

The calories they need for winter are stored in their bodies as fat.

And that's rather more useful than an apple stuck to their back.

What should you feed a hedgehog?

The best food for a hedgehog is still the food it finds naturally.

Encouraging plenty of insects and other invertebrates in your garden is therefore one of the most useful things you can do.

If you want to provide additional food, Warwick recommends kitten kibble as a suitable supplementary food, alongside their natural diet.

Fresh water is important too.

There is one old-fashioned hedgehog feeding habit that needs to disappear for good.

Don't give hedgehogs milk and bread.

Adult hedgehogs are lactose intolerant, so milk can make them ill. They need animal protein rather than a saucer of milk.

And if you regularly put out mealworms for wildlife, it's worth exercising some caution. Warwick discusses evidence linking diets containing lots of mealworms with metabolic bone disease in hedgehogs.

When do hedgehogs hibernate?

There isn't a precise date when every hedgehog goes to bed for winter.

Weather, food availability and the individual hedgehog all play a part.

As autumn progresses, however, hedgehogs increasingly prepare for hibernation.

Eventually they settle into a hibernaculum, which is the name given to their hibernation nest.

This might be tucked beneath vegetation, amongst leaves or inside a log pile. Those piles of leaves and logs you've been considering clearing away can therefore be surprisingly valuable. Warwick specifically notes that hedgehogs may make use of log piles and leaves left in gardens.

Hibernation is more complicated than simply sleeping

We tend to describe hibernation as a very long sleep.

For hedgehogs, it's considerably more dramatic than that.

During hibernation their metabolism slows by more than 95 per cent. Their heart rate can fall from around 190 beats per minute to about 20, while their breathing can drop to just one breath every two minutes. Their body temperature also falls significantly.

This incredible reduction in activity allows them to survive a period when their natural food supply is much harder to find.

But it comes at a cost.

A hibernating hedgehog is still using its stored energy reserves. If it wakes repeatedly, those reserves can be depleted. Warwick highlights warmer spells and disturbance as two things that can cause hedgehogs to wake when they would otherwise remain safely hibernating.

That makes a quiet, undisturbed hibernation site particularly important.

Why autumn leaves can be a good thing

For many of us, autumn means getting the rake out.

There's nothing wrong with keeping paths and lawns tidy, but you don't have to clear every leaf from every corner of the garden.

A layer of fallen leaves can provide shelter for invertebrates and create useful cover for hedgehogs.

A pile of leaves and branches in a quiet corner could even become a hibernation site.

So rather than clearing everything, consider leaving a section of the garden a little more natural.

It might look untidy to us.

To a hedgehog, it could look like a five-star hotel.

Take extra care when tidying the garden

Autumn is a popular time for cutting back plants, clearing vegetation and getting the garden ready for winter.

Before moving piles of leaves, branches or garden waste, have a good look underneath.

Hedgehogs can be surprisingly difficult to spot when they're tucked into vegetation.

Bonfire piles need particular care.

If you've collected garden waste for a bonfire, check it thoroughly and ideally move the pile immediately before lighting it. Hedgehogs can crawl into these piles because they provide warmth and shelter.

It only takes a few minutes to check.

Those few minutes could make a huge difference.

What about small hedgehogs in autumn?

Autumn can be particularly important for young hedgehogs.

Most hedgehog litters are born during June and July, although later litters can occur. Once young hedgehogs become independent, they have their own race against time to put on enough weight and build the fat reserves they need for hibernation.

That means a young hedgehog exploring your garden in autumn isn't necessarily something to worry about.

It may simply be doing exactly what it needs to do.

Finding food.

Putting on weight.

Getting ready for winter.

How can you help hedgehogs this autumn?

You don't need to completely change your garden.

A few simple things can make it much more useful to hedgehogs.

Leave some leaves

Don't feel obliged to clear every fallen leaf. Leave some beneath hedges, shrubs and in quiet corners.

Keep a wild corner

Longer grass, native planting, fallen branches and natural vegetation can provide habitat for the insects hedgehogs need.

Leave out fresh water

A shallow dish of clean water is a simple way to help visiting wildlife.

Supplement their natural diet

If hedgehogs visit regularly, suitable supplementary food can be provided. Kitten kibble is one option mentioned by Warwick, but natural food remains important.

Give them somewhere to hide

A pile of leaves and logs in a quiet part of the garden can provide valuable shelter. You could also install a purpose-built hedgehog house.

Make space for hedgehog highways

Hedgehogs need to move between gardens while searching for food and mates.

If your garden is completely enclosed by solid fencing, a small gap at the bottom can help create a route through.

Autumn is a big deal for Britain's hedgehogs

Autumn might look like the quiet season in the garden.

For hedgehogs, it certainly isn't.

This is when they're working hard to find food and build the reserves they need to survive hibernation.

The fallen leaves in your garden aren't simply something to rake up. A log pile isn't just garden waste waiting for the tip. Even that slightly overgrown corner you've been meaning to sort out could be providing food and shelter.

Sometimes, the best thing you can do for wildlife is leave things alone.

And if you happen to hear some snuffling in the garden after dark this autumn, there's a good chance you've got a little visitor making the most of it.

A garden doesn't have to be perfect

At BRDBX, we like the idea that gardens should work for wildlife as well as people.

You don't need to let everything grow wild and you certainly don't need to give up on gardening.

Just leave a little room for nature.

A pile of leaves here. A gap in the fence there. Some fresh water by the flower beds.

For a hedgehog preparing for winter, those small changes can be surprisingly important.

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