Shropshire Magazine

The British Hedgehog Protection Society has marked its silver jubilee.

Shirley Tart worries about a British native facing a prickly problem

We all cringe at the number of little animals left crushed at the roadside and try to be extra careful behind the wheel.

Some have gone that extra mile and taken action for the sake of our wildlife. And a local project which became a national organisation started right here in a south Shropshire village.

It drew lots of ‘aahs’ when it was formed 26 years ago, but this wasn’t just the cute Mrs Tiggywinkle story of the picture books. It was a mission for Major Adrian Coles of Knowbury, near Ludlow, who so wanted to protect the hedgehog population as far as he could.

Now, the British Hedgehog Protection Society has marked its silver jubilee, having saved goodness knows how many hedgehogs. The organisation has 11,000 members and many more supporters of goodwill.

And it all began with the Major peering into his cattle grid and identifying a problem for the small creatures. 

He found a hedgehog which had fallen in and couldn’t escape, and realised that without being able to get out it would die of starvation or dehydration – and reckoned many animals and birds must have already suffered death in this way.

As a local councillor, he took sweeping action and persuaded Shropshire County Council to install escape ramps in all grids within its authority.

Not surprisingly, the publicity aroused so much general interest that the British Hedgehog Protection Society was formed.

It was a lovely and encouraging story and the network was picked up by other parts of the country. Yet while poor old rabbits easily top the league for being killed on our roads (a whopping 58 per cent of wildlife victims), hedgehogs are second, accounting for 16.1 per cent. Numbers have dropped because the hedgehog population has also fallen.

Major Adrian Coles took the hedgehogs’ plight to the county council.

But when you think that grey squirrels are 4 per cent of the total, foxes 3.7 per cent and badgers 3.4 per cent, those hedgehog numbers are still pretty high.

Indeed some statistics suggest that they are dying out at a rate of the fifth of their population every four years. By 2025, they could all be gone.

So what can we do about it? Keep watch, for a start. A couple of years ago, BHPS won a six-year campaign to get McDonald’s to change the design of an ice-cream container because hedgehogs could get stuck in it. The new lid now has a hole too small for even a tiny animal.

As Major Coles said after the BHPS silver jubilee, the society has come a long way since its beginnings. It has also set a bench mark and example of help for our hedgehogs. Its aims are:

• To encourage and give advice on the care of hedgehogs, particularly when injured, sick, treated cruelly, orphaned or in any other danger.

• To encourage children to respect our natural wildlife by information, lectures and fostering an interest in hedgehogs.

• To fund research into hedgehog behaviour and help ensure their survival.

Long may the good work continue!

Give those hogs a hand

 1 Some three quarters of hedgehogs die in their first year.

 2 Around 100,000 are killed on our roads alone – so drive carefully, please.

 3 Don’t drop litter – a hedgehog could get stuck in it.

 4 Pick up any seen out during the day – they should be curled up asleep.

 5 Don’t be a thoughtless gardener: pesticides kill many each year.

 6 Do check rubbish or bonfires – they like to hibernate in them.

 7 Not all hibernate in a mild winter, but some might not find food.

 8 Put out bowls of tinned cat food (not fish) and clean water.

 9 Their eyesight is not very good – we can see them much better than they can see us.

10 Remember the original ramp idea and help the little hogs where you can.

• Contact BHPS on 01584 890801 or info@britishhedgehogs.org.uk