Tales from the Palace.
I am writing this on May 6th, the beginning of hedgehog awareness week https://www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk/hedgehog-awareness-week-2019/. I have been out dropping leaflets through doors, am giving a whole school assembly and am speaking at York University later in the month . I am also lucky enough to have been invited to Hook Gardening club to talk to the keen gardeners and to have a stall at the open garden event there on May 26th. I like to think I am doing my bit! It is always a privilege to talk to children who are so interested and who will shape the future survival (or extinction) of our only spiky mammal.
We can all help to save Hedgehogs.
In a census carried out in the 1950's there were an estimated 30 million hedgehogs in England. In 1995 the number had dropped to 1.5 million. It seems at the current rate of decline we will lose this wonderful little character from our hedgerows. Much of the decline is due to various forms of human intervention but there are a few really easy thing that we, as individuals can do to really make a difference.
The first one is to create hedgehog highways.
We have become such tidy gardeners and we put up walls and fences to protect our privacy with no thought for hedgehogs who may travel up to 2 miles overnight in search of ground dwelling invertebrates. A small CD size hole cut into a fence bottom or an absent brick size space in a wall will solve this issue and allow them to hunt. You can even get hedgehog friendly gravel boards from companies such as Kebur or Jacksons.
The second thing is a shallow bowl of water.
Just something you would stand a plant pot in is fine. Hedgehogs drink a lot and access to a shallow bowl of water can be a life saver.
How about a feeding station?
This means that you can feed hedgehogs without filling up all of the neighbourhood cats.It doesn't need to be anything flash or expensive. Indeed I use a flagstone perched on flat house bricks (hedgehogs can squeeze under). You can use a plastic box...
https://thehedgehog.co.uk/feeding-hedgehogs/how-to-stop-cats-dogs-and-foxes-stealing-the-hedgehogs-food/
It's lovely to see them visit.
Avoid those weedkillers!
If it had 'small mammal killers' on the label perhaps people would use them less. They kill hedgehogs slowly and horribly and are totally unnecessary. It just takes a few years to reach a natural balance and hedgehogs eat so many of the invertebrates that cause gardeners real headaches.
So we can all do our bit to save this iconic species, and these are just a few simple ideas.
Recue, rehabilitate, release.
Gill Dixon runs Pricklington Palace Hedgehog rescue here in Howden. Purely voluntarily and single handily. Please visit www.facebook.com/pricklingtonpalace/ to support her work. Donations via www.paypal.me/Dixon1829
