People in Dumbarton are being urged to make their gardens more hedgehog friendly.

The Scottish Wildlife Trust says residents can help encourage hedgehogs by doing a number of things.

These include building up piles of leaves in a quiet corner or setting up a special “hedgehog house”, cutting down on pesticide use to ensure they have food to eat, and opening up small gaps in fences to allow wildlife to move around between gardens.

The trust adds: “It’s always better to ensure that wild animals have natural food sources but if people do leave food out for hedgehogs we would recommend a meat-based cat food is used.”

Hedgehog numbers have plunged in recent years, mainly due to intensive agriculture, including increasing pesticide use affecting prey species such as slugs, and the continued loss of hedgerows. 

The hot and dry conditions earlier in the summer are also likely to have had an effect, as hedgehogs could have struggled to find water to drink as pools and ponds dried up.