The Hedghog comes out at night, spending the day sleeping under bushes or thick shrubs. The hedgehog hunts after dark, searching through the night for invertebrates such as earthworms, millipedes and earwigs.
Beetles are a favourite food and it also eats caterpillars and slugs.
The hedgehog is dubbed the gardener's friend because it includes so many pests in it's diet. It often raids mouse nests to feed on the newborn young, 'tidies up' dead animals and in the autumn eats soft fruit. Frequently food put out for dogs and cats in town and city gardens also provides a meal for the hedgehog. Loud snuffling noises in the dead of night from April to August may well be the sounds of hedgehogs mating. The male circles the female, sometimes for hours, to persuade her to mate.