Who doesn’t love a hedgehog? A taken-for-granted presence in the garden, endeared to us from childhood by Beatrix Potter’s washerwoman Mrs Tiggy-Winkle, but added to the IUCN Red List as vulnerable to extinction in Great Britain in 2020 (95% decline since 1950s). The picture is a mixed one though: rural populations have continued to fall by a third to three quarters over the last couple of - surely a marker that all is not well - but there are signs of recovery in urban areas.
Our parish and our gardens are an important refuge and lifeboat for their survival.
Raising awareness:
Celebrating Hedgehog Awareness week 30th April - 6th May | |
Highlighting the risks they face - bonfires, dehydration in summer, strimmer injury, litter, and of course pesticides. | |
Publicising sources of advice. For local matters: Corsham Area Hedgehog Rescue - follow them on Facebook; Jinny Matters - m. 07813 512755 / h. 01249 701760; Emma Rose Price - m. 07710 699877. |
We had a Corsham Area Hedgehog Rescue stall in the village Market Place,
and a wonderful display from Colerne Primary School:
Lots of information - and lots of interest.
Get in touch if interested in being a Hedgehog champion in your street. | |
Chat to neighbours to create a 'Hedgehog street' with the access holes between fences and the habitat they need. |
Map your sightings on the big hedgehog map, a national conservation project by PTES & BHPS aimed at Britain’s declining hedgehogs. | |
Avoid pesticides and toxic slug pellets. | |
Leave out water and food. |
Create wild area habitat for them. |
Check out these great websites - https://www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk and https://www.hedgehogstreet.org |