Starting out in a village tips?

[MrBob]

Hello

I have years of experience volunteering at a wild life rescue (mostly hedgehogs in the winter!) and wanted to put it to good use in the new area i moved into. Its rural but i not seen many hedgehogs since i been here, So i decided to see what i can do to help!

I asked on our village FB group for rough sightings so i can map them. What would people recommend as a good way to go forward from here? i had good feedback so far (around a dozen people reporting sightings in the village of 2000 ish) so i feel there are people keen to take part in some small way.

So i guess what am asking is, from experience of doing similar, what have people found works and doesn’t work, and what can we do when starting from scratch, it looks like there is 1 sighting on the map on here in the village so i am sure i am the only one actively doing this at present.

Thank you!

[Kitty878]

Hi MrBob,

I’d read that hedgehogs have been declining in rural areas, which is such a shame. I think cos they used to be so prolific in the countryside a lot of the people who live there don’t even realise they aren’t seeing them so often. There’s a lot of resources on the Hedgehog St website regarding talks etc to get local people interested in hedgehogs and conservation, although it sounds like you’ve had a fair bit of interest already, which is great.

I guess just find out what people have been doing, if anything, to help hogs, and encouraging them regarding feeding, homes, hedgehog highways etc. Let us know how it goes.

[Nic]

Hi Mr.Bob

I’m guessing you mean the 1 hog is on the Big Hedgehog Map? If so, and there have been all those other sightings, that might be a good thing to do to get the hogs put on the Big Hedgehog Map. It can be a useful resource if, for instance you ever wanted to apply for a hedgehog sign at some stage – that sort of thing.

There are loads of resources on My Hedgehog Street https://www.hedgehogstreet.org/my-hedgehog-street/ which you might find useful. From experience I have discovered that people often show interest initially but don’t always want to be involved in an active group, as such. But you might have better luck there. Sounds as if there are plenty of hedgehogs around which is a great start.

The most important things are to encourage people to link their gardens and try to make them more hedgehog friendly. Contrary to popular belief, gardens don’t have to be untidy to be wildlife friendly. But if there are lots of gardens linked the hogs also have less need to cross roads, which has to be good.

Good luck – I hope all goes well – and happy hog watching!

[daffydill]

Hi Mr Bob
Good advice already but just a suggestion to check out your local wildlife or mammal group as, like mine, they may have their own hedgehog survey of your area which you can now add to!
Good luck

[Author]

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