The prickly creatures usually come out of hibernation in mid-March and April and while many gardeners and their children are fascinated by these spiky mammals, they shouldn’t attempt to pick them up, says Helen Baczkowska, conservation research and evidence manager at Norfolk Wildlife Trust.

“It’s pretty warm at the minute and they might come out, toddle around for a few days and then, if there’s a really cold snap, go back to sleep for a few days, not into a deep hibernation, but this time of year can be variable,” she said.

“I would never advise people to pick them up and handle them or do anything with them unless they are obviously injured or trapped,” she says.

Hedgehogs will soon be coming out of hibernation (Image: Chris Bishop)

“Don’t encourage them in the house and don’t pick them up just because you can. It really stresses them, will frighten them away and they may seek another refuge somewhere else.

“They are much happier left to live their natural lives and are very good at finding what they need, as long as we don’t mess about with them.

“Hedgehogs don’t really like people. If you pick them up they can get stressed, if you handle them you can wake them up more than they are awake already.”

A hedgehog coming out of a feeding station made from a plastic storage box (Image: Chris Bishop)

She added while people can feed them but leaving wild corners of our gardens to encourage the invertebrates they feed on is more important.

The British Hedgehog Preservation Society (BHPS) says you can supplement their natural food with a good-quality meaty hedgehog food, meaty cat or dog food, checking meat is the first ingredient listed, or dry biscuits for cats.

Feeding stations can be made from plastic boxes with a lid and a hole too small for cats to enter.

And if you see an injured hedgehog, the BHPS recommends using gardening gloves or a folded towel to collect it up, bring it indoors and put it in a high-sided box with an old towel or fleece in the bottom for the hedgehog to hide under, before contacting the RSPCA or a local animal sanctuary.