- 3 May 2017
Urban Green playing their part in helping hedgehogs.
Orphaned baby hedgehogs need specialist care. Pictured is one of a group of babies found during the day time in a garden after their mother had died. It was rescued and taken to a RSPCA wildlife hospital.
By early winter hedgehogs need to be big enough and have enough fat reserves to survive hibernation. Babies which are born in the autumn often don’t have time to put on this weight. They need the help of a registered hedgehog carer or wildlife hospital.
Pictured is a hedgehog that has been weighed and checked by one of the Urban Green team who looks after underweight hedgehogs until they are ready to be released again.
The British Hedgehog Preservation Society http://www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk/ are asking people to pledge to do at least one positive thing to help hedgehogs during Hedgehog Awareness Week.
Here is their list of suggestions:
- Check areas very carefully before using a strimmer. Hedgehogs shelter and make nests in long grass and vegetation.
- Make hedgehog access in your garden – a 13cm x 13cm gap in boundary fences and walls.
- Check compost heaps before digging the fork in.
- Stop or reduce the amount of pesticides and poisons used.
- Cover drains or deep holes.
- Ensure there is an easy route out of ponds and pools.
- Move piles of rubbish to a new site before burning it.
- Ensure garden netting is kept at a safe height.
Do YOU want to do more to help hedgehogs?
Visit https://www.hedgehogstreet.org/ for further information.
