On Thu, 7 Oct 2004 19:31:58 +0100, "St. George" St.
wrote:

Hi,

Probably an old Chestnut but am new to this N.G.

Could someone please advise if hedgehogs should be encouraged or discouraged
in the garden.

Always a safe bet to encourage them - and you can do so by feeding
them. A small plate of cat food is ideal, and to prevent other animals
from scoffing it, place another plate or a lid of some sort over the
food. This tends to dissuade most other animals - but the hog will
just barge right in ( and probably thank you for the meal by crapping
on the plate... so don't use the Denby ).

They're wide-ranging in their foraging habits, so you won't have
exclusive use of their services.
It can be fun to mark them in some fashion to monitor their foraging
habits - use acrylic paint ( from any artist supply shop ) to daub a
number on the back of the hog. It's a water based paint, and won't
harm the hog.

Also what is the role of the snail and slug ?

They eat stuff.
You can pretty much regard all snails as bad news - but not all slugs
are that nasty. Quite a few of them dine on dead matter, particularly
the larger ones.
From my own experience, the ones to watch are the little black ones
with the orange sole...these will burrow through anything en masse.
Likewise the small, slimy cream coloured jobby.

There are several methods of control, but the two I find most
effective are getting out there at night with a torch and picking them
off ( this will also give you the chance to observe the hedgehogs at
work, and plenty more that goes on in the dark ) - and covered areas (
using tiles or carpet etc ) under which the slugs and snails will
crawl to rest. Just lift the covering and pick 'em off.
This will also encourage ground beetles and , if you're lucky, slow
worms.
You might have to spend a week doing this, but it will decimate the
population to such an extent that a weekly patrol will probably be
adequate.

Don't forget to check that you have some sort of flat, hard surface
around....for the Thrushes to use as an anvil to smash snail shells. I
find they prefer somewhere slightly raised and unobscured by
surrounding plants...presumably so they can keep an eye out for
predators.

Regards,



--
Stephen Howard - Woodwind repairs & period restorations
www.shwoodwind.co.uk
Emails to: showard{whoisat}shwoodwind{dot}co{dot}uk