Help – Hedgehogs in danger
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Has anyone else witnessed the destruction of hedgehog and wildlife habitats in their area ? We are in suburbia.
Local council seems to regularly destroy the hedgerows in our area. They are now under cutting the hedges without any regard for sleeping and nesting hedgehogs. This goes against their own advice of hedge maintenance on their website.
Other than letting the council know, which is too late, with them potentially killing any sleeping hogs, what can and should we do? It feels like a constant battle to keep things green and safe for wildlife here.
What have you done to keep the hedgehogs safe in your area ?
Hi galaxy0101
I understand your distress. And it isn’t only Councils and other official bodies, it’s all the people who use strimmers and brushcutters in their gardens without giving a thought to any creatures who might be sleeping in the undergrowth.
I live near a railway line, where they do vegetation clearing from time to time. I have often rung them up to warn them to be careful and about the hogs. I always say also about all the other hogs who must live up and down the country in railway edges. They usually say something like an Ecology Officer (can’t remember the exact title) does an assessment. But as hogs don’t have full protection I’m not sure how thorough that is.
So you could contact your council and have a discussion about using strimmers and other power tools in a wildlife friendly manner. ie. there is some information on using strimmers safely in https://www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk/gardening-with-hedgehogs/
BHPS also run or ran a ‘Hedgehog roll of Honour’ for organisations who have agreed to use their stickers on their tools ‘PLEASE CHECK AREA FOR HEDGEHOGS BEFORE USING THIS EQUIPMENT’ I’ll add the link in the next post. The forum often doesn’t like more than one link per post!
But it is a serious problem. I have twice had to take poor wounded hogs to the wildlife hospital due to strimmer injuries. One had to be put down. The other luckily survived, but only with the dedicated care and attention she received at the wildlife hospital. Many hogs die as a result of such injuries.
Anyway, good luck with your efforts with the council there.
This is the other link: https://www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk/hedgehog-heroes-roll-honour/
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