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Hedgehog help in the canton of Thurgau

Have you found an injured, sick or unusual-looking hedgehog in the canton of Thurgau? Here you can find out when a hedgehog needs help, which regional hedgehog station you can contact and how you can protect its habitat in Thurgau.

With its gardens, orchards, hedges, settlement edges and structurally rich green spaces, Thurgau generally offers good habitats for hedgehogs. At the same time, the animals are coming under increasing pressure from settlement densification, road traffic, robotic lawnmowers, pesticides, impermeable fences and the loss of near-natural areas.

With the Igelstation Frauenfeld, the canton has an established regional care and advice centre. As admission capacity is limited and can change at short notice, the handover of a hedgehog must always be arranged by telephone first.

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A hedgehog in tall grass

Found a hedgehog – what should you do now?

Not every hedgehog needs human help. A healthy hedgehog is mainly active at dusk and at night. If you see a hedgehog during the day, this does not automatically mean that it is sick.

Action is needed in particular if the hedgehog:

  • is injured or bleeding
  • seems apathetic or does not roll up
  • staggers, walks in circles, wheezes or breathes heavily
  • is infested with flies, fly eggs or maggots
  • is noticeably thin or weak
  • lies unprotected in the sun for a long time
  • is a young hedgehog found obviously without its mother

  1. If possible, contact a hedgehog station before transporting the animal. The station can assess whether the hedgehog needs to be taken in and whether a care place is currently available.

    Hedgehog stations

  2. Until the handover, wearing gloves, you can place the hedgehog in a sufficiently high cardboard box. Line it with newspaper and a towel and put the box in a quiet place. Offer fresh water in a shallow dish. Never give the hedgehog cow’s milk and do not treat it yourself with medication or anti-parasite products.

Hedgehog station in the canton of Thurgau

The following centres are listed by regional organisations as contact points for hedgehogs in the canton of Thurgau. As many helpers work on a voluntary basis, immediate availability or admission cannot be guaranteed.

  • Igelstation Frauenfeld

    The Igelstation Frauenfeld is run by the Tierschutzverein Frauenfeld und Umgebung. By prior arrangement, it admits sick, injured, weakened and orphaned hedgehogs and prepares them for later release into the wild.

    Igelstation Frauenfeld

    Please call before every journey. Do not bring a hedgehog to the station without notice, and do not leave a transport box in front of a closed facility.

    Reporting and advice centre of the animal welfare association

    If you cannot reach the direct hedgehog phone line, you can contact the general reporting and advice centre of the Tierschutzverein Frauenfeld und Umgebung.

    • 052 720 40 40
    • Availability:
      Monday to Friday: 08:00–18:00
      Saturday: 08:00–12:00
      Sundays and public holidays: closed

    Further information is available from the Tierschutzverein Frauenfeld und Umgebung.

    The station works with a volunteer team and is particularly busy between October and December. According to an article by the Gesellschaft Schweizer Tierärztinnen und Tierärzte, the advice service receives approximately 3’000 to 4’000 calls a year. In the peak season, the station can care for around 20 hedgehogs at the same time. These figures show the great need for advice and care, but say nothing about the canton’s total hedgehog population. Article on the Igelstation Frauenfeld

Further hedgehog stations in the neighbouring regions

If the Igelstation Frauenfeld is fully booked or cannot be reached, a neighbouring station may be able to help. Admission must always be confirmed by telephone first.

Please do not transport a weakened or injured hedgehog over long distances without prior arrangement. The nearest station is not automatically responsible or able to take it in.

If the hedgehog station cannot be reached:

Emergency numbers that charge a fee may incur higher call charges. For a seriously injured hedgehog, you can also contact a veterinary practice or animal clinic. Before setting off, call to ask whether they treat hedgehogs or wild animals.

Note on this regional information page · As of: August 2026

This page brings together information and contact points on hedgehog protection in the canton of Thurgau. It is not an independent cantonal authority or an additional hedgehog station.

The hedgehog stations and animal welfare organisations listed are independent or privately run services. Responsibilities, availability and admission capacities can change at short notice. Please therefore always get in touch by phone first.

Cantonal contact points

The veterinary office is the right cantonal authority in particular for questions of animal welfare law, reports of problematic animal keeping or questions about care stations requiring a permit.

  • Veterinäramt des Kantons Thurgau

    The Veterinäramt of the canton of Thurgau is responsible for enforcing animal welfare and animal health legislation.

    The veterinary office is the responsible cantonal authority in particular for animal welfare law matters, for uncertainties about authorised care stations or for fundamental questions about keeping and caring for wild animals.

    The veterinary office is not a hedgehog station and does not normally take on the direct care of individual found animals. If you find an injured or sick hedgehog, you should therefore first contact the Igelstation Frauenfeld or a hedgehog emergency advice service.

Report hedgehog sightings in Thurgau

Sightings can be entered on the platform Wilde Nachbarn Thurgau.

  • Such reports help to:

    • document the distribution of hedgehogs
    • identify gaps in their occurrence
    • locate possible danger spots
    • select future study areas
    • observe changes over several years

  • If possible, note down:

    • the date and time
    • the exact location of the sighting
    • the condition of the hedgehog
    • any particular dangers at the site
    • if possible, a photo taken from a safe distance

A sighting report is no substitute for emergency help. If a hedgehog is injured or weakened, a hedgehog station must also be contacted.

Thurgau as a habitat for hedgehogs

Thurgau is characterised by towns and villages, agricultural land, orchards, hedges, forest edges, streams and the landscapes along Lake Constance and the Untersee.

Today, hedgehogs live mainly in settlement areas. They find suitable habitats in particular in:

  • green residential neighbourhoods
  • natural private gardens
  • parks and cemeteries
  • traditional standard-tree orchards
  • hedges and planted embankments
  • allotment and community garden areas
  • structurally diverse village edges
  • transitions between settlements and farmland

Suitable settlement areas can be found, for example, in and around Frauenfeld, Kreuzlingen, Weinfelden, Romanshorn, Arbon, Amriswil, Münchwilen, Sirnach, Bischofszell and Diessenhofen.

The canton has a lot of orchard and agricultural land. These areas are particularly valuable for hedgehogs if hedges, herbaceous margins, brush piles and other small structures are preserved. Large, intensively farmed and structurally poor areas, on the other hand, offer little food and hardly any protected refuges.

Large solitary tree at the edge of a field near Frauenfeld, with forest edge and fields behind
A hedgehog in the grass

How many hedgehogs live in the canton of Thurgau?

There is currently no scientifically verified total figure for all hedgehogs living in the canton of Thurgau. However, Thurgau has comparatively recent and meaningful study data.

In summer 2024, the project “Igel gesucht im Thurgau” investigated the distribution of the animals using footprint tunnels and sighting reports. Volunteers placed the tunnels in selected gardens and green spaces. When a hedgehog passed through one of these tunnels, it left its footprints on a strip of paper.

The key results:

  • 36 sites spread across the canton were studied.
  • Each study site covered 500 × 500 metres.
  • Ten footprint tunnels were used per site.
  • The tunnels were checked over five nights.
  • Hedgehog tracks were found in 34 of the 36 sites studied.
  • For the areas studied, an average density of approximately 45 hedgehogs per square kilometre was estimated.
  • There were large local differences between the individual study sites.

The results show that hedgehogs are still widespread in the Thurgau settlement areas studied. The estimated density is high compared with other regions studied.

However, the figure of 45 hedgehogs per square kilometre must not be multiplied by the total area of the canton. The study focused on selected settlement areas. Forests, intensively used agricultural land, industrial areas and other habitats have very different conditions.

Nor is it yet possible to make a reliable statement about the population trend, because comparable older data are lacking. The 2024 study forms a baseline against which later repeat surveys can be compared.

The full results and the final report are available at Wilde Nachbarn Thurgau – Igel gesucht.

Hedgehog-friendly area right next to a road with lorries

Dangers for hedgehogs in Thurgau

The most common dangers include:

  • busy roads
  • robotic lawnmowers and string trimmers
  • pesticides, insecticides and slug pellets
  • closed fences and walls
  • light wells and basement stairways
  • pools, ponds and open water basins
  • protective netting in horticulture and fruit growing
  • completely sealed surfaces
  • a lack of hedges and hiding places
  • garden lighting at night

Particular care is needed when mowing under hedges, shrubs and on embankments. Hedgehogs often do not flee from garden equipment but curl up instead. This makes them barely visible to the people operating it.

Robotic lawnmowers should only be used during the day. Before mowing with brush cutters or string trimmers, areas that are hard to see must be checked by hand.

Naturally designed area with deadwood, stones and shrubs

Protecting habitats in Thurgau together

Hedgehog protection works across property and municipal boundaries. A single natural garden is valuable. Even more helpful is a whole neighbourhood with permeable fences, native plants, safe water points and interconnected green spaces.

Private individuals, municipalities, schools, businesses, as well as farms, fruit-growing and horticultural businesses can help to preserve safe routes and refuges.

In new developments and redesigns, not only individual green spaces but also their connection with neighbouring habitats should be taken into account. Permeable property boundaries, unsealed surfaces and native planting help not only hedgehogs but also amphibians, insects, birds and other native animal species.

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We are also available by phone and are happy to help you with advice and practical support.

Whether you are looking for our hedgehog magazine full of helpful tips, information about hedgehog talks or materials for school projects – we provide everything free of charge to promote the welfare of hedgehogs.

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Expert knowledge on the care and treatment of hedgehogs

Free hedgehog courses for veterinary practice assistants throughout Switzerland

Hedgehog Help Switzerland offers free hedgehog courses for veterinary practice assistants throughout Switzerland. These courses are specially tailored to veterinary practice assistants who want to familiarise themselves with the particularities of hedgehog care and acquire professional knowledge of the medical treatment and care of hedgehogs. In veterinary practices, hedgehogs need special attention and expert care that differs from other wild animals – and this is exactly where our hedgehog courses for veterinary practice assistants come in.

In our courses you will learn everything about caring for and treating hedgehogs in a way that suits the species. We cover important topics such as correct feeding, stress management during treatment and recognising typical hedgehog diseases. Our hedgehog courses are offered both at our hedgehog station and directly at your veterinary practice – we work throughout Switzerland and adapt to your location and your schedule.

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