Hedgehogs
This is Julie Leah's article for Shoreline Magazine in early 2022
CHARMOUTH HAS HEDGEHOGS !
This year Charmouth seems to have had a promising number of hedgehog sightings and evidence of their presence in the form of distinctive dark tapered droppings, which sometimes look like a dark slug, has been seen in several gardens. The UK’s only spiny mammal is in serious decline and there are many factors at play several of which we can help with.
Hedgehogs are found both in the countryside and urban and suburban areas. As the name suggests, traditionally they would be found near hedges which are an ideal nesting site, providing a good supply of food, protection from predators and corridors to move along. Pastures used for grazing are also important foraging areas for hedgehogs. The right kinds of gardens can provide hedgehogs with a plentiful supply of food, both natural and supplementary, as well as many potential nest sites for breeding, resting and hibernation. For these reason urban areas have become a stronghold for hedgehogs in recent years.
They have home ranges of around 10- 20 hectares, which means that any one hedgehog might travel around at least half of Charmouth. They will roam on average 2 km per night searching for food and potentially up to 3 km in the case of males searching for a female.
Hedgehogs are widely recognised as a potential ally in the garden. They are carnivorous and generalists, eating invertebrates such beetles, slugs, caterpillars and earwigs depending on which invertebrates are abundant throughout the spring to autumn. They are also opportunists and will eat carrion, frogs, baby rodents and birds, birds eggs and fallen fruit, much of which contains invertebrates as well.
These two factors are critical to why hedgehog numbers have declined – they need a network of gardens to roam around and they need those gardens to have plenty of invertebrates. Fragmentation is a major issue with fences replacing hedging, walls, new developments, and busier roads all breaking up green spaces that hedgehogs depend upon.
Hedgehog Highways
We can make their life a little easier by making holes in or under our garden fences and walls for them to pass through. These DIY hedgehog highways only need to be approximately 13cm x 13cm. This is too small for most dogs to escape from gardens. You can even buy gravel boards with a hedgehog hole ready cut ! Planting more hedges and keeping existing hedges wide is the ideal option. The wider and denser a hedge, the more biodiversity it supports providing benefits to all wildlife.
Leave a mess !
Piles of cut twigs and logs and leaf piles provide ideal foraging and resting sites. As a true hibernator, hedgehogs need a sheltered place for hibernation and they also need the leaf litter to line the hibernation site with. As a gardener, I have more than once found hedgehogs curled up in beautifully woven leaves from plants such as carex and iris that they have carefully wrapped around themselves having gathered leaves in first.
Make a pond
Ponds, with safe access into and out of for mammals, support a huge range of biodiversity which can help provide food and a source of water for hedgehogs as well as suppporting other wildlife.
Avoid or reduce using pesticides and herbicides
The use of slug pellets and herbicidal weedkillers all impacts upon invertebrate populations that our small mammals and birds rely upon. Even chemicals licensed and promoted as earth friendly and safe are increasingly being shown to have negative impacts upon our soil mico-organisms and complex ecosystems of invertebrates. See the Pesticide Action Network UK for more information.
Supplementary food
The particular concern this year is that with the warm Autumn weather late litters have been spotted in parts of the country. Hoglets from a second litter would need to put on weight very quickly to prepare for hibernation and going into a state of torpor. While it is still warm and wet there will be food around but as soon as the weather cools, the invertebrate supply will go into hiding and the hedgehogs will be vulnerable so young hedgehogs born at this time of the year will not last the winter unless supported by supplementary feeding.
Providing meat-based dog or cat food will replicate the high protein diet required. Place food outside at dusk in a shallow dish and put in a sheltered area of your garden, or create a feeding station with bricks, pipes and / or logs to prevent other animals from getting the food. A source of water is important too. Specially made hedgehog foods exist and can be bought from most local pet and garden stores as can hedgehog houses (the wooden ones are safest for them) for hibernation and nesting.
Hedgehog Street is a UK wide campaign to inform the public and support hedgehog research including a map that you can log your sightings onto. Charmouth Green group would like to link to the Hedgehog Street campaign to create a hedgehog friendly village with Hedgehog highways, more ponds and reduced use of pesticides. If you would like to join our campaign, please contact me Julie Leah at Charmouthgreengroup@gmail.com.
CHARMOUTH HAS HEDGEHOGS !
This year Charmouth seems to have had a promising number of hedgehog sightings and evidence of their presence in the form of distinctive dark tapered droppings, which sometimes look like a dark slug, has been seen in several gardens. The UK’s only spiny mammal is in serious decline and there are many factors at play several of which we can help with.
Hedgehogs are found both in the countryside and urban and suburban areas. As the name suggests, traditionally they would be found near hedges which are an ideal nesting site, providing a good supply of food, protection from predators and corridors to move along. Pastures used for grazing are also important foraging areas for hedgehogs. The right kinds of gardens can provide hedgehogs with a plentiful supply of food, both natural and supplementary, as well as many potential nest sites for breeding, resting and hibernation. For these reason urban areas have become a stronghold for hedgehogs in recent years.
They have home ranges of around 10- 20 hectares, which means that any one hedgehog might travel around at least half of Charmouth. They will roam on average 2 km per night searching for food and potentially up to 3 km in the case of males searching for a female.
Hedgehogs are widely recognised as a potential ally in the garden. They are carnivorous and generalists, eating invertebrates such beetles, slugs, caterpillars and earwigs depending on which invertebrates are abundant throughout the spring to autumn. They are also opportunists and will eat carrion, frogs, baby rodents and birds, birds eggs and fallen fruit, much of which contains invertebrates as well.
These two factors are critical to why hedgehog numbers have declined – they need a network of gardens to roam around and they need those gardens to have plenty of invertebrates. Fragmentation is a major issue with fences replacing hedging, walls, new developments, and busier roads all breaking up green spaces that hedgehogs depend upon.
Hedgehog Highways
We can make their life a little easier by making holes in or under our garden fences and walls for them to pass through. These DIY hedgehog highways only need to be approximately 13cm x 13cm. This is too small for most dogs to escape from gardens. You can even buy gravel boards with a hedgehog hole ready cut ! Planting more hedges and keeping existing hedges wide is the ideal option. The wider and denser a hedge, the more biodiversity it supports providing benefits to all wildlife.
Leave a mess !
Piles of cut twigs and logs and leaf piles provide ideal foraging and resting sites. As a true hibernator, hedgehogs need a sheltered place for hibernation and they also need the leaf litter to line the hibernation site with. As a gardener, I have more than once found hedgehogs curled up in beautifully woven leaves from plants such as carex and iris that they have carefully wrapped around themselves having gathered leaves in first.
Make a pond
Ponds, with safe access into and out of for mammals, support a huge range of biodiversity which can help provide food and a source of water for hedgehogs as well as suppporting other wildlife.
Avoid or reduce using pesticides and herbicides
The use of slug pellets and herbicidal weedkillers all impacts upon invertebrate populations that our small mammals and birds rely upon. Even chemicals licensed and promoted as earth friendly and safe are increasingly being shown to have negative impacts upon our soil mico-organisms and complex ecosystems of invertebrates. See the Pesticide Action Network UK for more information.
Supplementary food
The particular concern this year is that with the warm Autumn weather late litters have been spotted in parts of the country. Hoglets from a second litter would need to put on weight very quickly to prepare for hibernation and going into a state of torpor. While it is still warm and wet there will be food around but as soon as the weather cools, the invertebrate supply will go into hiding and the hedgehogs will be vulnerable so young hedgehogs born at this time of the year will not last the winter unless supported by supplementary feeding.
Providing meat-based dog or cat food will replicate the high protein diet required. Place food outside at dusk in a shallow dish and put in a sheltered area of your garden, or create a feeding station with bricks, pipes and / or logs to prevent other animals from getting the food. A source of water is important too. Specially made hedgehog foods exist and can be bought from most local pet and garden stores as can hedgehog houses (the wooden ones are safest for them) for hibernation and nesting.
Hedgehog Street is a UK wide campaign to inform the public and support hedgehog research including a map that you can log your sightings onto. Charmouth Green group would like to link to the Hedgehog Street campaign to create a hedgehog friendly village with Hedgehog highways, more ponds and reduced use of pesticides. If you would like to join our campaign, please contact me Julie Leah at Charmouthgreengroup@gmail.com.
