It’s the time of year when we issue our annual Bonfire Night hedgehog alert!

Although Bonfire Night was last night, we know many will be waiting till tonight or the weekend to mark the occasion.

If you’re planning your own bonfire then please remember that hedgehogs like to sleep in them.

The British Hedgehog Preservation Society’s advice is as follows: if the material to be ignited is stored on open ground in advance of having a bonfire, it’s crucial to dismantle it and move it to another spot just before lighting. Please make sure your neighbours do the same thing.

If you do find a hedgehog (perhaps one that’s become frightened and curled up in a ball) place it in a high-sided cardboard box with plenty of newspaper and ensure there are air holes in the lid.

Wear garden gloves so as not to get human smells on the hedgehog and to keep him or her calm as hedgehogs are easily stressed, and to protect your hands from the spikes.

Put the box in a safe, quiet place such as a shed or garage well away from the festivities, and offer meaty cat or dog food and water in a shallow bowl (but definitely not milk because they can’t digest it).

Once the bonfire is totally dampened down, release the hedgehog under a hedge or a bush.

Hedgehogs are not the only creatures to become stressed by bonfire night celebrations.

The RSPCA estimates that 45% of dogs in the UK show signs of fear when they hear fireworks.

Most dogs have acute hearing, which exacerbates the problem. You can help your dog, and any other pets you have in your house, by drawing all the curtains, and providing extra bedding so that your pet can hide under it if necessary, or make a den.

Make sure your pet is locked down (not a phrase we like to hear at the moment!) and confined indoors well in advance of the festivities and ensure all doors, windows and cat flaps are closed.

Ideally your dog should have had an extra long walk that day so that he/she is more tired than usual.

Try not to over-react to changes in your pet’s behaviour and if they want to hide or pace up and down, or whine, let them. F

ussing and fretting over them can create a negative feedback loop.

And never, ever chastise or shout at your pet if he or she is frightened or is misbehaving. It’s far better, and more effective long-term, to praise and reward good behaviour.

Don’t forget the pets you may have outside, such as rabbits and guinea pigs.

As well as providing extra bedding, partially cover their hutch or pen with a blanket but make sure your pet can still look out.

If you have a firework-phobic pet, a longer-term solution may be to try to de-sensitize them to acute noises.

You will need a suitable recording, or you can purchase specially designed CDs, and by playing the sound on a low volume to begin with you can gradually introduce your pet to the noise.

You can then gradually start to increase the volume.

Another auditory solution is to play your pets soothing music, and Classic FM is running two special programmes this year - one was on Bonfire Night itself (on Thursday) and the other on Saturday 7th.

The programmes will run at the peak firework times, between 7pm and 9pm on Saturday and they will fill the air with Bach to mask the bangs and Rossini to drown out the rockets!