Mummy, whats a hedgehog?
by Gill Dixon, PGCE,MA,BHScHons,RGN.
As well as being a popular, beneficial and distinctive native mammal, hedgehogs are a flagship species: what’s good for hedgehogs is good for many other species too. Like the miner’s canary, its demise is a warning of a failing environment. (stefan Roos et al 2012)
Sadly it would seem that unless we as a nation respond NOW, it will be a matter of only a few year for hedgehogs to be assigned to the history books.
In the 1950's a nationwide census of hedgehogs estimated the population to be 35 million individuals. In 1995 the population had dropped to 1.5 million!!!
In 2020 a survey carried out by the Mammal Society in conjunction with the Peoples Trust for Endangered Animals and the British Hedgehog Preservation Society published figures suggesting that just 500,000 hedgehogs now exist in the British Isles. They went on to say that an estimated 100,000 hogs are killed on the roads each year! (Wright,P etal 2020)
You do the maths!!
In 2022 a ew report revealed a loss of between 30 and 75% of hedgehogs. The biggest decline being in rural Eastern England.
The decline in hedgehogs flags up concerns about the environment that affects us all. Our natural environment is dying and we are to blame. I wear this fact like a heavy coat and now I am asking you, my friends and family and complete strangers to help to save one small, helpful and harmless creature, and in doing so help the wider environment.
I am not a pessimist by nature, nor do I want to be a harbinger of doom but the figures speak for themselves, our only indigenous spiky mammal is on the brink.
Do we as an animal loving nation care enough to do something about their demise? We can endlessly wait for politicians to increase their protection status, we can lobby councils to stop spraying hedgerows and verges, we can ask big corporations to pour money into research and protection, ask building companies and landowners to be mindful of destruction and we can continually blame others for what is happening to them, but the bottom line is that we all (yes that is you and me) can do our bit and truly make a difference, but we have to act NOW!!!
There are some great initiatives, some of which can be viewed at https://www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk/ but the truth is that a population such as ours which stands at a staggering 66,435,600 (Office for national Statistics) can make a difference, person by person, household by household, village by village........
A little hedgehog history:-
The hedgehog has a chequered history, and it is really a marvel that it has survived at all. Many were eaten by the ancient Britons, and certain parts of the animal were considered to be excellent cures for various ailments resulting in them being widely hunted. The Bard himself, William Shakespeare spoke of them as wicked spirits and vermin and soon the whole world began to despise them.
Even the Church offered rewards for hedgehogs killed in churchyards and right up until in the last century some counties in England were still paying out for the corpses.
Thank goodness then for Beatrix Potter who introduced a whole generation of us to the delightful Mrs Tiggy-Winkle . She is considered extremely important for bringing the
hedgehog back into favour.
(frwikiversity.org)
Sadly the hedgehog was then accused of egg stealing and gamekeepers seized the opportunity to clear more from their estates . As recently as 1976 a scientific research programme established that in one estate in East Anglia, 260 hedgehogs a year were routinely slaughtered.
The point is, they have a real, long and meaningful history. It would seem to me that our only indigenous spiky mammal, which we know for certain were firmly established in Britain by the middle Pleistocene period about 2 million years ago (Stocker, L 1987) have earned their place on our shores.
Alas, in my lifetime we have reduced them to the edge of existence.
I am one of a small army of people who run hedgehog rescues, under the supervision of a veterinarian, and having accumulated a huge amount of knowledge and experience I can honestly say that almost all the injuries and illnesses that hedgehogs bring through my doors are due to human interference at some level.
How sad is that?
The major source of their trouble is the huge reduction in habitat, hedgerows, shrubs, wild undisturbed areas where they can live and thrive. Importantly the need for people to erect solid barriers around their properties has had a huge and negative impact as hedgehogs cannot travel to forage without crossing roads. This lack of connectivity between green spaces is tantamount to hedghogicide .
There are though many other reasons for their demise including ....
- Strimmers and garden machinery cause horrendous injuries each and every year
- Domestic dogs are a real threat.
- Garden ponds (with no means of exit)
- Football and garden nets.
- Slug pellets, rodent poisons and traps.
- Disturbance
- Paving, patios,decking and artificial grass.
- Deliberate acts of cruelty
I could go on but I am sure you get the picture. WE are the problem. WE are killing the nations hedgehogs.
If we all made a hole in our garden fences (13cm x 13cm ) or removed one brick space we could as a nation create the largest wildlife reserve in the country. How wonderful and how easy! https://shop.britishhedgehogs.org.uk/product/hedgehog-highway-sign/
Lack of suitable foodstuffs is another huge area of concerns for hedgehogs. Insect numbers have fallen some 40% in recent years (insect numbers have halved as the population doubled...spot the correlation?) and hedgehogs are now forced to eat large numbers of the very things that carry the parasites that kill them (slugs and snails). Overwhelming parasitic burden is a very common diagnosis in rescues up and down the country.
..
I am really sorry if you, like me, are one of the people working hard to restore some habitat, I know that there are many of you trying really hard to help these curious and shy creatures. I see growing numbers come into the rescue which may be as a direct result of increased awareness, or intensifying threats to their well-being. Hedgehogs have certainly had a great amount of press in recent months but I am tired of the semantics and platitudes, we need action. I would like to see less and less come into the rescue because they are doing well out there just being hedgehogs.
So please can I ask all of you reading this to do three simple things to help Britain's hedgehogs...
- Make that hedgehog highway passable. Just check that there is a small hole somewhere in your garden fence/wall/gate that hedgehogs can enter and exit by, ideally straight into a neighbours garden.
- Plant some wild flowers. Not only do they look beautiful but they bring in much needed insects. Just a tub would be a start.
- Leave a shallow bowl of water out for our prickly friends. A plant pot holder is ideal.
There are lots of other things you can do and I (and fellow rescuers) and the BHPS (British Hedgehog Preservation Society) are always happy to give out further information and talk to groups. However by responding to these three, simple things you will make a huge difference.
(alexclarkart.co.uk)
I certainly hope that these characterful creatures will not be assigned to the history looks but sadly current research indicates that it is a very likely scenario. The fate of the hedgehog (and thus our environment) is in our hands. and with Spring around the corner I would urge you to resist the temptation to use weed killers in your garden and give the hedgehog a chance to clear your space of those pesky plant eating insects. You will be helping the health of the whole environment for future generations.
Please pass this article on. The more people that read it, the greater the potential impact. Lets keep them out of the history books.
Ref:
2020. Predicting hedgehog mortality risks on British roads using habitat suitability modelling. PeerJ 7:e8154 https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.8154
Wilson E, and Wembridge D , (2018) The State of Britain’s Hedgehogs 2018 PTES/BHPS funded research.
Roos S, Johnston A & Noble D, (2012) UK Hedgehog Datasets and their Potential for Long-Term Monitoring British Trust for Ornithology
Stocker L, (1987) The Complete Hedgehog.
In 2020 a survey carried out by the Mammal Society in conjunction with the Peoples Trust for Endangered Animals and the British Hedgehog Preservation Society published figures suggesting that just 500,000 hedgehogs now exist in the British Isles. They went on to say that an estimated 100,000 hogs are killed on the roads each year! (Wright,P etal 2020)
The decline in hedgehogs flags up concerns about the environment that affects us all. Our natural environment is dying and we are to blame. I wear this fact like a heavy coat and now I am asking you, my friends and family and complete strangers to help to save one small, helpful and harmless creature, and in doing so help the wider environment.
I am not a pessimist by nature, nor do I want to be a harbinger of doom but the figures speak for themselves, our only indigenous spiky mammal is on the brink.
There are some great initiatives, some of which can be viewed at https://www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk/ but the truth is that a population such as ours which stands at a staggering 66,435,600 (Office for national Statistics) can make a difference, person by person, household by household, village by village........
A little hedgehog history:-
Even the Church offered rewards for hedgehogs killed in churchyards and right up until in the last century some counties in England were still paying out for the corpses.
Thank goodness then for Beatrix Potter who introduced a whole generation of us to the delightful Mrs Tiggy-Winkle . She is considered extremely important for bringing the
The point is, they have a real, long and meaningful history. It would seem to me that our only indigenous spiky mammal, which we know for certain were firmly established in Britain by the middle Pleistocene period about 2 million years ago (Stocker, L 1987) have earned their place on our shores.
I am one of a small army of people who run hedgehog rescues, under the supervision of a veterinarian, and having accumulated a huge amount of knowledge and experience I can honestly say that almost all the injuries and illnesses that hedgehogs bring through my doors are due to human interference at some level.
How sad is that?
The major source of their trouble is the huge reduction in habitat, hedgerows, shrubs, wild undisturbed areas where they can live and thrive. Importantly the need for people to erect solid barriers around their properties has had a huge and negative impact as hedgehogs cannot travel to forage without crossing roads. This lack of connectivity between green spaces is tantamount to hedghogicide .
There are though many other reasons for their demise including ....
If we all made a hole in our garden fences (13cm x 13cm ) or removed one brick space we could as a nation create the largest wildlife reserve in the country. How wonderful and how easy! https://shop.britishhedgehogs.org.uk/product/hedgehog-highway-sign/
Lack of suitable foodstuffs is another huge area of concerns for hedgehogs. Insect numbers have fallen some 40% in recent years (insect numbers have halved as the population doubled...spot the correlation?) and hedgehogs are now forced to eat large numbers of the very things that carry the parasites that kill them (slugs and snails). Overwhelming parasitic burden is a very common diagnosis in rescues up and down the country.
..
I am really sorry if you, like me, are one of the people working hard to restore some habitat, I know that there are many of you trying really hard to help these curious and shy creatures. I see growing numbers come into the rescue which may be as a direct result of increased awareness, or intensifying threats to their well-being. Hedgehogs have certainly had a great amount of press in recent months but I am tired of the semantics and platitudes, we need action. I would like to see less and less come into the rescue because they are doing well out there just being hedgehogs.
So please can I ask all of you reading this to do three simple things to help Britain's hedgehogs...
I certainly hope that these characterful creatures will not be assigned to the history looks but sadly current research indicates that it is a very likely scenario. The fate of the hedgehog (and thus our environment) is in our hands. and with Spring around the corner I would urge you to resist the temptation to use weed killers in your garden and give the hedgehog a chance to clear your space of those pesky plant eating insects. You will be helping the health of the whole environment for future generations.
Please pass this article on. The more people that read it, the greater the potential impact. Lets keep them out of the history books.
Ref:
Wilson E, and Wembridge D , (2018) The State of Britain’s Hedgehogs 2018 PTES/BHPS funded research.
Roos S, Johnston A & Noble D, (2012) UK Hedgehog Datasets and their Potential for Long-Term Monitoring British Trust for Ornithology
The mammal society (April 2019) Mammal Society Appeal – Are we Driving Hedgehogs to Extinction?
University College, London. (July 2014) Invertebrate numbers nearly halve as human population doubles Science.
Acknowledgement: Thank you to Hazel Arnold for the use of her photograph.
Gill Dixon , until recently ran a busy and successful hedgehog rescue. She now devotes her time to raising awareness. 
https://www.facebook.com/pricklingtonpalace
https://www.facebook.com/pricklingtonpalace
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