Page 43 - BBC Wildlife Volume 36 #04

HEDGEHOGS

DO YOU HAVE
HEDGEHOGS?

LOOK FOR DROPPINGS
Hedgehog scats (below) are quite
distinct: about 2–3cm long, typically
blunt at one end, gritty, black
and studded with shiny bits like
glitter (inedible insect wing-cases
and exoskeletons). They’re often
deposited on lawns, so easy to see.
LISTEN FOR SNUFFLING
These are noisy mammals.
You might hear coughs, snuffles,
huffs or wheezes – especially
on balmy evenings during the
May–July breeding season, when
amorous hogs can sound like
little steam trains.

SET UP A TRAILCAM
Fix one at ground level near
suitable-looking access points
(experiment with different
positions). Even if you don’t strike
David and Jackie’s
gold, you’ll get insights into your
homemade
hedgehog house is garden’s other nocturnal visitors.
filled with straw and
LESTER THE CAT positioned against FINALLY, ASK AROUND!
their garden shed.
If hedgehogs live in your street,
IS FASCINATED estate or suburb, the odds are a
BY HEDGEHOGS. neighbour will have noticed one.
Also check the UK-wide sightings
IN SUMMER HE map at www.bighedgehogmap.org
SEARCHES FOR THE

MAMMALS MOVING
THROUGH THE

UNDERGROWTH.

Interestingly, neither Jackie nor David has come across Above: Lester high, hedgehog populations tend to be lower due to a
any hedgehog fleas in the past 15years. I still believe that thecat is a combination of competition, fear and predation.
the myth of the ‘flea-ridden hedgehog’ was a smear created ‘hedgehog Other than that, this is a very normal garden in a 1980s
whisperer’. He
by bird-lovers who long ago recognised that hedgehogs estate filled with people who are lucky enough to share
alertsDavid and
were just so much cuter. The misconception could be due Jackie when a their lives withhedgehogs. Perhaps thesaddest thing
to the fact that sick hedgehogs are the ones most likely to be hedgehog is in about the experience of Jackie and David is that it’s worthy
encountered, since they’re often active in daylight – and sick their garden. of comment. Anecdotally, it is clear that many Brits have
Here, two prickly
hogs are more likely to be infested with parasites. memories of there being many more hedgehogs, especially
guests tuck into
mealworms. if they’re in their 50s or older. So I have more than just a
HEDGEHOG HEAVEN passing interest in the amazing success the Sages have at
So what is special about this garden? Looking at a map of attracting hedgehogs to their garden.
Chippenham, you can see that the Sages live in a 1 km 2 The latest population figures for hedgehogs have just
estate bordered on two sides by a hedgehog-proof river, and been published and reveal some interesting changes since
elsewhere by playing fields and farmland. We know that this the last ‘State of Britain’s Hedgehogs’ report in 2015. Back
is an area large enough to support a viable population of then, the best data we had indicated that the UK’s suburban
hedgehogs. We also know that the surrounding countryside hedgehogs haddeclinedby around athird since the turn
is not riddled with badgers. When badger numbers are of the century, and the rural population by over half.
April 2018 BBC Wildlife 43