Hi Mandy
I was so sorry to hear about the poor hedgehog. I know how hard it is to lose one of our hedgehog visitors, especially one we have got to know well.
It sounds very likely to me that this was a result of some sort of garden/agricultural machinery. Hedgehogs can get really terrible injuries from garden strimmers/brush-cutters, etc. and many don’t survive. I had a poor chap here once, who turned up one afternoon with a terrible gash. Sadly his injury was too bad for him to survive and he had to be euthanased by the vets I took him to. Even worse that what he died from was not natural causes.
More needs to be done about educating people how to avoid such terrible accidents. Such as checking carefully that there are no hedgehogs present before strimming or even mowing. Many frogs probably lose their lives for similar reasons.
You might like to read the following from the BHPS about gardening with hedgehogs. https://www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk/gardening-with-hedgehogs/
There are various posters around. I can look some out for you if you’re interested. But you may also like to read https://www.hedgehogstreet.org/zsls-garden-wildlife-health-team-investigates-the-hedgehog/ in case you find any other dead hedgehogs.
Sadly country hedgehogs in general seem to be having a tough time, but good luck with the other hedgehogs there. It’so nice that your neighbours are wildlife friendly as well.
