Danger to Hedgehogs

From Karen Gerrard, Tarvin Community Woodland Trust ....

Preserving Tarvin's Wildlife

We would love to say that our woodland is teeming with wildlife, and it is true that there are many wild animals that do call it home. However, successful wild animals are good at staying out of sight, and so we are (for the most part) unaware of their presence. This is equally true of their presence in our gardens, which we all may unknowingly share with many wild creatures at various times.

One such creature is the hedgehog, the gardener's friend, going round eating the slugs and snails that would otherwise turn plant leaves into lace curtains! Hedgehogs CAN run, but, if danger threatens, they are far more likely to roll up into a ball, which makes them highly vulnerable to some of the technological devices that have such widespread use these days – for example, a strimmer! A poor hedgehog, however tightly it may be rolled up and however well nature may have designed its spines, will be no match for a heavy strimmer cord rotating at who-knows-what speed.

The British Hedgehog Preservation Society has published this poster to try to warn of the problem. The advice that they give is:-

• Thinking about cutting the grass?Think hedgehog before you do!
• Leave it unmown if you can – but if you must mow, check carefully for hedgehogs & other wildlife first, then cut it initially to about a foot tall.
• Then, check again before cutting any lower! PLEASE!

Ed: Karen Gerrard is a Trustee of Tarvin Community Woodland Trust and is very much concerned with hedgehog welfare – both in the woodland and elsewhere.