Count the prickles

LATELY, our chances of encountering a real-life Mrs Tiggy-winkle have grown slimmer—since 2000, hedgehog numbers have declined by half in rural areas and by almost a third in urban areas. Last week, the first national Hedgehog Housing Census was launched by Hedgehog Street, a campaign set up by the British Hedgehog Preservation Society (BHPS) and People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES), in partnership with the University of Reading and Warwickshire Wildlife Trust.

From now until October 31, the survey will be ‘the first to investigate how successful hedgehog houses might be in helping to provide sites for resting, breeding and hibernating and is one of a series of collaborative projects to help gather such evidence,’ explains researcher Abigail Gazzard.

Emily Wilson, hedgehog officer for Hedgehog Street, adds: ‘There are lots of ways people can take part, but in addition to making a small hole in your fence, providing the correct food and drink and keeping areas of your garden untidy, if you’re lucky enough to see hedgehogs in your garden, you can further help these endangered creatures by having the right accommodation on hand ready for them when they need it.’

Hedgehog Street welcomes volunteers, who are known as Hedgehog Champions (more than 44,000 people have signed up since the campaign was founded in 2011), but anyone with a hedgehog house is encouraged to take part in the census.

For further details, visit www.hedgehogstreet.org/housingcensus. The results will be published in spring 2018. Katie Gibson