Check for hedgehogs
PEOPLE organising Bonfire Night celebrations this year are being urged to check for hedgehogs.
Fay Vass, chief executive of the British Hedgehog Preservation Society, said: “With people missing their trip to large events, we fear they may decide to build a bonfire at home instead.
“Many small bonfires in gardens is even more concerning than the usual huge fires held in the middle of a field.”
She urged that bonfires are not built until the day they are to be lit.
“If material is stored on open ground in advance of having a bonfire, it’s crucial to dismantle it and move it to another spot just before lighting,” she said.
“If a hedgehog is found, take as much of the nest as you can with it and place in a high-sided cardboard box with plenty of newspaper/old towelling.
Put the box in a safe, quiet place until the embers are dampened down and release the hedgehog under a hedge, bush or behind a stack of logs with the nest material.”