Apparently wildlife rescue centres are seeing a big increase in the number of Hogs being brought in.
Dr Toni Bunnell, who runs a sanctuary in York, has taken in dozens of baby hedgehogs this summer:
I suspect more people have been gardening because they see it as being cheaper than going on holiday, People definitely seem to be spending more on their gardens.
The improvements they have made to their gardens have had a huge impact. People are setting their fences right down to the ground so there’s no way the hedgehog can go through from one garden to the next. That reduces the number of gardens they can go to and feed in.
The problem now is garden makeovers. They’ve been an unprecedented disaster this year. We are getting lots and lots of mothers and babies disturbed by the bulldozers – the mother can make off but the babies have to be rescued.
Lorraine Jackson, who runs the Hull Animal Welfare Trust’s Hedgehog Hospital says that when she released hogs in the past were able to support themselves almost immediately but over the last two years they have remained dependent on feeding stations. She said
They’ve been staying around and eating the food, I’ve also noticed a lot of the gardens are tidier than they used to be and have decking and gravel introduced.
More and more hedgehogs are needing the food left by people. That tells me their natural food supply isn’t there. A hedgehog will need something like 10 reasonably sized gardens to find enough food to survive.
But I’ve been getting a lot of people coming to me with rescued hedgehogs telling me their neighbours have just had a makeover.
2 comments:
Being lazy and untidy often has its advantages.
I don't do fashionable where Nature is concerned! They don't mix!
Decking, gravel etc? No thanks!
This is the first year I haven't seen a Hedgehog in the garden, I haven't changed anything, in fact it is more untidy than usual! so should be more attractive to hogs but many of the neighbours have 'gone modern'
:(
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