On Saturday I took part in a workshop at Rutland Water Nature Reserve as part of the Wild Horizons group, run by Simon Thompson from Help for Hedgehogs (Warwickshire Wildlife Trust). I learnt a lot about hedgehogs, a peculiar and special mammal which could really do with our he
Erinaceus roumanicus, or the northern white-breasted hedgehog, is the species of hedgehog which is found in the UK. With between 5000 and 7000 spines under muscular control, these are an instantly recognisable member of our garden community. However they are not as common as they have been in previous decades; habitat loss, fences, increased road and rail networks and urbanisation all contribute to the habitat fragmentation and reduction in food availability which are detrimental to hedgehogs. As they were once so common, there aren’t many records of their historical population sizes which makes conserving them difficult. It is thought that there were approximately 30 million individuals in the UK in the 1950s, but this number has dramatically dwindled to less than 1 million individuals, highlighting the rapid and widespread decline. If you would like to read further about how hedgehogs are doing, read the State of Britain’s Hedgehogs 2015.
This is all quite concerning, however I learned that there are things that we can do to help. Community engagement is clearly a major factor that can be used to conserve and increase hedgehog populations. In particular, garden interconnectedness; don’t put up a solid fence or wall between your garden and your neighbour’s. Instead leave gaps or cut a hole (5 inches X 5 inches) in the bottom of the fence to allow hedgehogs to move between gardens to forage and find suitable nesting sites. Please remember that a hedgehog seen during the day is not necessarily an issue; if they are busy and appear healthy then leave them be. For more advice on what to do if you see hedgehogs that you think are in danger, then use Hedgehog Street’s website to find help. Here is the plan for hedgehog conservation that pretty much anyone can follow:
- Linking habitats
- Keeping wild areas
- Don’t disturb areas where hedgehogs are
- Check before you mow!!
- Log piles are a great habitat for hedgehogs and the invertebrate species they prey upon
- Don’t use pesticides
- Make ponds safe for hedgehogs by installing a small ladder or ramp that they can use if they get stuck in the water
- Tie up garden netting
- CLICK HERE TO LOG ANY HEDGEHOG SIGHTINGS, DEAD OR ALIVE
Why should the community be engaged? Well, people power is the key to conservation (and not just of hedgehogs!), as it can give wildlife groups access to public knowledge of species, as well as support and even funding for projects to take place in the community. There is also the possibility of using citizen science (data collected by non-professionals), by putting out easy to use ink tunnels which can indicate the presence of hedgehogs (CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE) as well as other beasties in our gardens. These are easy to use and cheap to obtain, and I would encourage you to try it out- if you do get hedgehog footprints that would be fantastic, don’t forget to report them! Check out Help For Hedgehogs, and get inspired to help our hedgehogs!
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