Which Animals Hibernate in Belgium?

The days are getting shorter, the first night frost turns the grass white, and the garden falls quiet. Where have the hedgehogs, frogs and butterflies gone? Many animals have a clever solution for the cold, hungry winter: they sleep. But not every animal does so in the same way. Pull on your Snow Lynx Hoodie, with a lynx silently moving through deep snow, and discover which animals in Belgium hibernate and how you can help them.

Hibernation, Winter Rest or Cold Torpor?

There are three ways in which animals get through the winter:

• Hibernation: body temperature drops dramatically, and heart rate and breathing slow to a minimum. The animal lives off its fat reserves. This is what the hedgehog, bats and dormice do, among others.
• Winter rest: the animal sleeps a lot but wakes up regularly to eat from its stores. Its body temperature drops less. This is what the red squirrel and the badger do.
• Cold torpor: cold-blooded animals, such as frogs, toads, lizards and insects, cool down to the temperature of their surroundings and become completely still. As soon as it warms up, they become active again on their own.

The Hedgehog: the Best-Known Hibernator

This is how deeply a hedgehog sleeps

During hibernation, a hedgehog's body temperature falls from around 38 °C to barely a few degrees. Its heart rate drops from more than a hundred to around ten to twenty beats per minute. Even so, a hedgehog does not sleep through the entire winter: it wakes up briefly every now and then, roughly every week to week and a half.

In late autumn, the hedgehog looks for a hidden spot, such as a leaf pile or a brush pile, and builds a nest of leaves, grass and moss.

The hedgehog is in trouble

The hedgehog is not doing well. According to the VRT, it has recently been listed as a threatened species. In 2025, one bird rescue centre took in noticeably fewer hedgehogs than the year before: 838 compared with nearly 1,400. The decline is attributed to diphtheria, a bacterial infection that has been affecting hedgehogs since 2017.

Found a baby hedgehog in winter?

To get through the winter, a hedgehog needs enough fat. The Natuurhulpcentrum in Oudsbergen keeps young hedgehogs in care until they weigh about 500 grams.

• Do you see a small hedgehog still wandering about in November or December, during the day or in the cold? It is probably in trouble. Contact a rescue centre.
• Never give a hedgehog milk. Hedgehogs cannot digest milk and get diarrhoea from it. A dish of water or a little cat food is fine.

Sick or underweight hedgehogs overwinter at the Natuurhulpcentrum in a special hedgehog loft. In spring, they are returned to the place where they were found, in their own territory.

A cold winter's day in the garden calls for a warm layer, such as the Tundra Walk Sweatshirt, with caribou on an endless, pale plain.

Bats

Bats also go into true hibernation, roughly from November to March. For this they look for a cool, damp and quiet place, such as a fort, cave, cellar or bunker. Their heart rate can then drop to one beat every two to three minutes. Waking a sleeping bat can put its life at risk. You can read everything about their winter roosts in our article on bats in Belgium.

Dormice: the True Sleepyheads

Three species of dormouse live in Belgium: the garden dormouse, the hazel dormouse and the edible dormouse. As their name suggests, they sleep for much of the year.

• Garden dormouse: recognisable by the black "mask" around its eyes. It has been listed as endangered on the Belgian Red List since 2014, due to the loss of its habitat and the disappearance of insects. In 2024, Natuurpunt and the city of Sint-Truiden placed 15 nest boxes to help it.
• Hazel dormouse: a small, golden-brown mouse that occurs in the Voeren area (Voerstreek), among other places.
• Edible dormouse: the largest of the three. In Belgium, it only lives in the far south, in the Gaume.

In Flanders, only the garden dormouse and the hazel dormouse live.

Winter Rest: Red Squirrel and Badger

The red squirrel does not truly hibernate. In autumn, it builds up stores, and on mild winter days it leaves its nest to eat from them. Read more in our article on red squirrels in Belgium.

The badger also takes a winter rest. In cold weather it stays in its sett, but it wakes up now and then.

Cold Torpor: Frogs, Butterflies and Ladybirds

• Frogs and toads spend the winter in cold torpor, often in the mud or under leaves near water.
• The brimstone butterfly overwinters as an adult butterfly, hidden in evergreen shrubs such as ivy and holly. It even survives frost. That is why it is often the first butterfly you see in spring.
• Ladybirds gather together in winter and overwinter in groups.
• Most other butterflies overwinter as an egg, caterpillar or pupa, hidden in leaves or grass.

And the Birds?

Birds do not hibernate. Many species, such as swallows and storks, migrate south. Other birds come to us instead: geese and ducks from Scandinavia and Siberia spend the winter in Belgium. To learn about the great crane migration, read our article on crane migration in Belgium.

How to Help Animals Through Winter in Your Garden

• Leave leaves and branches lying. A leaf pile or brush pile is a perfect hiding place for hedgehogs and insects.
• Leave plant remains standing. Many insects overwinter in hollow stems and spent plants.
• Create a hedgehog highway: a small gap at the bottom of your garden fence, so hedgehogs can move from garden to garden.
• Leave a patch of your garden wild. A garden that is allowed to be a little rooted in nature, much like the Still Roots Sweatshirt, inspired by forest textures and earthy tones.
• Hang up an insect hotel or nest boxes.
• Feed the birds with seeds and fat balls when it is really cold.
• Check carefully before clearing leaf piles and compost heaps: a sleeping hedgehog may be hiding in them.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which animals hibernate in Belgium?

The hedgehog, bats and dormice (garden dormouse, hazel dormouse and edible dormouse) truly hibernate. Red squirrels and badgers take a winter rest and wake up now and then.

Can you give a hedgehog milk?

No. Hedgehogs cannot digest milk and get diarrhoea from it. A dish of water or a little cat food is a better choice.

What is the difference between hibernation and winter rest?

During hibernation, body temperature, heart rate and breathing drop sharply, and the animal lives off its fat reserves. During winter rest, the temperature drops less and the animal wakes up regularly to eat.

For Those Who Love the Cold Season

Frost on the grass, silence in the forest and a hedgehog sleeping somewhere deep beneath the leaves: winter has its magic too. Discover our animal designs in the Wildlife collection, such as the Forest Floor T-shirt with mushrooms on the forest floor, or the Pine Dusk Sweatshirt with a row of pine trees. Shipping is free across the EU from €45 (otherwise €4.99).