What does it look like?
Hedgehogs are grey‑brown in colour, with their backs and sides completely covered in sharp spines. They are most commonly found in lowland and coastal areas and prefer dry habitats.
Why is it a problem?
Hedgehogs are widespread across New Zealand and pose a serious threat to many native species. They are most active at night and feed on the eggs and chicks of ground‑nesting birds, as well as large numbers of native insects, lizards, and frogs.
Hedgehogs can also carry diseases that affect people, pets, birds and farm animals, including bovine TB, salmonella, leptospirosis and ringworm. While they are common, the full impact hedgehogs have on New Zealand’s ecosystems is only just beginning to be properly understood.
Control methods
Hedgehogs are easily trapped. Poison use is not an effective targeted method as hedgehogs have a very high tolerance for most poisons and many other naturally occurring toxins.
Recommended traps include the DOC150, DOC200 or DOC250 tunnel traps. Although the Goodnature A24 will also kill them, they must be set up with a ramp below (so they roll away) and low on a reclined angle using a trap stand or similar, to be effective[1]. Trials have demonstrated the chocolate lure most attractive.[2]
Place the tunnel trap on the edge of cover. Good places for traps are along fences, a stream edge, in bush among tree roots, beside fallen logs, or alongside dry culverts. Keep the entrance clear of leaves and weeds.
The best times to lay traps for hedgehogs are:
- In spring at the beginning of the bird breeding season, bait with eggs.
- In autumn when adult females can be targeted with fatty baits.
A well-placed trap can catch hedgehogs without bait, but baiting traps is more effective. Use fishy cat food or freshly killed rabbit or chicken as bait. A longer-lasting option is using one or two eggs. These can be left whole or broken, or if using two then make a small hole in one egg and leave the second egg whole. If cats are present, avoid meat-based baits.
Trapping success over winter is unlikely, given low activity and/or a tendency to hibernate.
More information
- Don't encourage hedgehogs into your backyard by creating burrows for them or leaving milk and food out.
- If accidentally caught in live-capture traps and you don’t have the heart/desire to kill it, it’s not an offence to release them uninjured, close to where they were caught. Hedgehogs may be legally released without transportation beyond the property it was caught within (communication of a pest).
Related links
- How Do I Identify My Pest? – BioNet NZ
- Fine-Tuning Your Predator Control – Webinar (Predator Free NZ)
- DOC 200 Predator Trap Instructions (PDF)
- Predator Free 2050 Trapping Guide (PDF) – DOC NZ
- Hedgehogs – Animal Pests (DOC NZ)
- Regional Pest Management Plan – Hawke’s Bay Regional Council
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Management Programme
Site-led Pest Programme
Pests listed under the site-led programmes, and most of the other pests included in the RPMP, are capable of damaging habitats and important ecosystem processes, or competing with indigenous species for food, or prey directly on native species. Pest management, habitat protection (e.g. via fencing) and habitat restoration/creation (e.g. via planting) are key management measures in halting biodiversity decline in Hawkes Bay. A site-led management programme significantly assists with the delivery of each of these goals.
More informationRules
Sections 52 and 53 of the Biosecurity Act (1993)
No person shall knowingly communicate, cause to be communicated, release, or cause to be released, or otherwise spread any pest or unwanted organism, in accordance with Sections 52 and 53 of the Biosecurity Act 1993
More information
