A little Hog History.
I have recently read a fascinating book written by the late great Les Stocker, founder of St Tiggywinkles (the first wildlife teaching hospital in Europe). I thank him for sharing what he knew so enthusiastically and for everything he and his team did and continue to do for hedgehogs.
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 and so they were widely hunted. Konrad of Megenberg told how hedgehog flesh was good for the stomach as long ago as 1350.
The Romans used the skins (dried and cured) to card out wool, but more recently the skins were used to prod horses over show jumps.
There were those who were keen to study rather than expolit and Aristotle in the fourth century BC observed and wrote of the 'echinus'.
He along with Albert the Great (13th century) spoke of how the movements of the hedgehog could be used to determine wind direction.
The Romans also considered the hog useful in the forecasting of weather and wrote that the hog would exit from hibernation on Feb 2nd and if he saw his shadow he would return to his burrow for another six weeks of winter.
A well known story by Pliner the Elder told of hedgehogs who climbed trees in order to knock off the fruit which it would then throw itself upon in order that the fruit stuck to its spines for transportation. Quite an imagination!
(circa 1320 Cambridge)In medieval Britain it was believed that hedgehogs suckled the milk of cows and this led to the creatures being slaughtered in their thousands. Farmers persecuted them and in 1566 an Act of Parliament offered a reward for every hedgehog caught. Hedgehog hunting became quite a lucrative pass time.
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.
It took another Act of Parliament in 1863 to repeal the law but goodness knows how many creatures perished before this.
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.
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.
With all this positive exposure the much maligned hedgehog gained a popular image and they are now a much loved creature, but one that is in rapid decline. Numbers have declined from an estimated 30 m in the 1950's to 1.5 million today.
It is interesting to note that whilst they are now considered an endangered species they only benefit from partial protection under the Wildlife & Countryside Act (1981).
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 have earned their place on our shores.
I certainly hope that they 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 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 chance to clear your space of those pesky plant eating insects. Lets keep them out of the history books.
Gill, until recently, ran a very busy and successful rescue. she now concentrates on raising awareness in an effort to help this endangered and very precious little mammal.
