People with gardens are being called upon to play a role in safeguarding hedgehogs as they tidy up their outside areas for the approaching warmer season.

The spiny creatures have now ended their winter sleep and are seeking nourishment, somewhere to rest and breeding partners, yet domestic gardens can present significant dangers, according to MyBuilder.com.

Concealed threats such as uncovered drainage systems, chemical treatments and pools without gentle slopes may harm or even prove fatal to these mammals.

Andy Simms, representing MyBuilder.com, stated that it can be challenging to determine how to offer meaningful assistance for wildlife conservation, though modest adjustments to gardens actually provide an excellent starting point with considerable impact.

The positive aspect is that such measures require minimal effort and do not involve significant cost.

Simple actions like securing open water features, installing entry points in ponds and offering some supplementary food allow everyone to implement these modifications and contribute meaningfully.

Hedgehog Awareness Week takes place between May 3 and 9, seeking to highlight the declining population of hedgehogs.

Numbers have decreased by as much as three-quarters in countryside locations during the past twenty years.

Fay Vass, director of the British Hedgehog Preservation Society, noted that annually, countless hedgehogs suffer preventable injuries or die in domestic gardens due to lawnmowers, strimmers, pesticides, garden netting and unguarded drainage openings.