Hedgehog Awareness Week

Hedgehog Awareness Week is organised by the British Hedgehog Preservation Society and takes place every year. It aims to highlight the problems hedgehogs face and how you can help them.

Hedgehog Awareness Week poster

This year the charity is asking people to ‘Think Hedgehog!’ Look at your garden or greenspace (or local park, school grounds, etc) and imagine how useful or dangerous it might be if you were a hedgehog – is it a hedgehog disaster or a des-res?

There are lots of hazards that can be removed or improved such as:

• Poisons and pesticides that could directly harm hedgehogs and destroy their food chain.
• Uncovered drains – hedgehogs can fall into these and become stuck so make sure yours are covered up.
• Litter is a problem for all wildlife and while this is (hopefully) not an issue in your own garden, it very likely is in the wider environment. Contacting local landowners where litter is an issue can help; remember to point out the danger to wildlife.
• Netting can become entangled in hedgehog spines: make sure sports nets are put away and garden netting is at a height that hedgehogs can safely pass under.
• Always carefully check for hedgehogs before mowing, strimming or lighting a bonfire pile that they might have made a nest in.

For information see the British Hedgehog Preservation Society awareness week webpage