Page 8 - Oundle Life November 2021

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The gardener’s friend
The hedgehog was voted Britain’s Favourite Wild Mammal, but despite that it is in trouble and hedgehog numbers have been declining for many years. The decline is so bad that hedgehogs have recently been classified as “Vulnerable to Extinction”. They are often referred to as the “gardener’s friend” and most of us are thrilled to spot one in the garden, but it’s becoming an increasingly rare sight. Hedgehogs love beetles and caterpillars, making them the perfect visitor for keen gardeners worried about their plants getting eaten.
The problem is that hedgehogs are finding it harder to find good places to live and enough food to eat. And if hedgehogs are in trouble it raises concerns about other species (including humans) and the environment in general. If we take action to improve things for hedgehogs, we will help lots of other wildlife too.
Thankfully it’s not all doom and gloom and there are lots of easy ways to help. Here’s a few ideas:
• Ask your local Bonfire Night organisers to
“think hedgehog” before lighting a public bonfire. If possible, get them to build the bonfire the day it’s going to be lit, or failing that, check carefully under it first before lighting and only light from one side to allow anything underneath to escape out the other side.
• Create 13cm x 13cm square gaps in your boundary fence as a ‘hedgehog highway’ and ask your neighbours to do the same.
• Offer a good quality (high protein) hedgehog food, or meaty cat or dog food, or some cat biscuits alongside a bowl of water at night.
• Make your garden wildlife friendly – avoid using slug pellets, pesticides or poisons and leave one corner “a bit wild”.
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