Key change you need to make in your garden to keep hedgehogs coming back night after night

It's the smallest hole you'll ever cut in your garden - but it could make the biggest difference to the creatures passing through it.

If you've ever seen a hedgehog shuffling across your lawn at night, consider yourself lucky. These quiet, nocturnal foragers are one of Britain's most beloved wild visitors, yet their numbers have fallen dramatically over the past few decades.

Rebecca Machin, Scientific and Policy Officer at the RSPCA, says gardens can easily become "hedgehog havens" with just a few small adjustments. "Hedgehogs can travel around three kilometres every night," she explains.

"By making small holes in fences or digging shallow tunnels beneath garden boundaries, we can help them move safely between spaces - and that movement is vital to their survival."

According to the RSPCA, creating a "hedgehog highway" (a small 13 x 13cm gap at the base of a fence) can transform your garden into a key part of their nightly route. It's barely larger than a CD case, small enough to keep pets contained, yet large enough for a hedgehog to squeeze through comfortably. Make a few of these openings between neighbouring gardens, and suddenly an entire street becomes accessible terrain.

With free movement restored, hedgehogs can forage across a network of gardens, finding enough beetles, worms and caterpillars to sustain them through hibernation.

Brick walls can have one brick removed near ground level. If your garden backs onto an alley or hedge, make sure there's at least a small gap under the vegetation.

This small adjustment also helps other species. Frogs, toads and small mammals like voles and shrews all use these routes to move between feeding and nesting areas.

Some homeowners worry about security or unwanted pests, but the risks are minimal. The hole is too small for foxes or dogs to pass through, and hedgehogs don't dig or damage property. What you'll likely gain instead is a few extra nightly visitors - small, round, and very good at eating the garden pests that threaten your plants.

But according to the RSPCA, building a hedgehog-friendly garden goes beyond the fence. Once you've created a safe passage, you can make your outdoor space even more inviting with a few simple changes.

First, provide a steady source of food and water - by placing the food in a shallow dish, alongside a bowl of fresh water -, think about shelter - as hedgehogs need safe places to rest during the day and to hibernate through the winter months.

It's also important to make your garden safer for the visitors you're trying to attract. Many hedgehogs are injured or killed each year by hidden dangers such as uncovered drains, garden netting and slug pellets.

Compost heaps and bonfires should be checked carefully before being disturbed or lit, as hedgehogs often choose them for nesting. "Always thoroughly disturb bonfires immediately before you light them," the RSPCA warns. "Moving the whole bonfire by hand before setting it alight is the best way to ensure that hedgehogs and other wildlife aren't sleeping inside."