Prickly problem solved: Animal lover's simple hack stops hedgehogs falling down her garden steps at night
- The hedgehog slowly scales to the top of garden steps in Edinburgh, Scotland
- Creature uses the discarded bricks at the side to climb to the top of the stairs
- Agata Majcher, 38, created mini-staircase after spotting one of hedgehogs fall
An animal lover has come up with an ingenious 'hedgehog hack' after spotting one of the creatures falling down her garden steps.
Agata Majcher, 38, a make-up artist from Edinburgh, Scotland, filmed adorable footage of a prickly creature successfully scaling the steps after she used discarded bricks to create their own mini-stairway.
Ms Majcher, who was able to create the animal-friendly stairs with the help fo her boyfriend Stewart Rugg, 37, has since been hailed a 'genius' for her invention.
The hedgehog uses the discarded bricks placed on the side of the staircase to climb each step
The creature uses the small bricks on the side to scale the steps at night and reach the garden
Agata Majcher, 38, from Edinburgh, Scotland, decided to create the mini-staircase after spotting one of the creatures falling down her garden steps
During the clip, the hedgehog uses the discarded bricks placed along the side of the staircase to carefully climb each step before wandering into Ms Majcher's garden.
Ms Majcher said: 'I saw on my CCTV camera how a hedgehog was going upstairs, but the poor thing fell down from the first step.
'It was heartbreaking seeing that they might get hurt in my garden by falling down the stairs - I was angry at myself that I'd never thought about it before.
'I said to my boyfriend ''we need to do something to help them'', so he broke a couple of bricks and we put them on the steps.
'I've seen them use the steps many times - I just found it so cute and thought other ''hedgehog people'' would think the same.
'And maybe others would see it and realise they're not just little spikey creatures, but they're smart, cute and in need of some support from us.'
Ms Majcher first took an interest in hedgehogs when she sensed they were visiting her garden but waited more than a month for the creatures to appear.
She continued: 'I kept telling my boyfriend that we had hedgehogs in our garden as there were no snails, and they were always a nightmare eating my precious plants.
The animal uses Ms Majcher's mini-staircase to reach the top of her garden in Edinburgh
The hedgehog walks into Ms Majcher's garden after successfully scaling the flight of stairs
Ms Majcher now uses a trail camera at night to film the hedgehogs using her garden as a safe haven
Ms Majcher and her boyfriend Stewart Rugg (pictured together), 37, placed the bricks on their garden steps after seeing one of the creatures fall
'But I never saw any hedgehogs - they were always ''exotic'' for me and masters of hiding from humans.
'One evening the motion sensor light in the garden stayed on for a long time, so I went to the window to see what was there and I saw it.
'The poor little thing was so wobbly, so I ran outside with water and cat food bowls, and it was crunching and drinking for a very long time - I even had to protect it from a mean fox.
'The same thing happened the night after, so I've created a small feeding station and moved my CCTV camera from the kitchen window into the living room to watch what is happening every night.'
The make-up artist now spends around 45 minutes each evening tending to the hedgehogs by cleaning their bowls and ensuring they have a fresh supply of food and water.
She said: 'If it's nice weather I then wait for the first visitor, and if it rains I go back inside and wait for a notification from the camera.
'The hedgehogs are comfortable around me when I pop outside - I can come close to them, but I would never touch them.
The animal lover enjoys watching the hedgehogs so much that she has invested £60 in a new trail camera
Ms Majcher said her pet cat Bobo loves watching videos from trail cameras on Youtube
'Some nights get really busy with between six to eight hedgehogs, other nights there's only two.
'Bobo [pet cat] loves watching videos from trail cameras on Youtube, but when the cats see hedgehogs outside they run like crazy from window to window.
'After a couple of months of taking notes I know roughly who comes when.
'Then I go to sleep and check my camera in the morning as all the best stuff happens at night.'
Ms Majcher has enjoyed observing the hedgehogs so much that she has invested £60 in a new trail camera - and has said she will be doing as much as she can to help her new garden visitors.
She added: 'I'm all animals lover - I find everything fluffy or spikey super cute.'
Ms Majcher has been praised on social media for her staircase hack, with some calling her a 'genius'
After sharing her video online in an effort to encourage more to lend their time to the vulnerable species, Ms Majcher has been met with a flurry of praise.
One user wrote: 'That's genius, both the thought of the bricks and the fact that he/she knows to use them.'
While another person commented: 'Smartie, is someone asks how to make a garden hedgehog friendly here's one more thing (bricks on steps).'
Another person added: 'Love this.'
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