Be a Hedgehog Hero!
When did you last see a hedgehog? The nation’s favourite wild animal used to be a common sight in our gardens and along our hedgerows, but not anymore. Thanks to Hedgehog Heroes – part of our Nature Counts partnership project – you can make that happen.
Once a common sight in our gardens, this spiny species is now declining rapidly across the UK. An estimated 30% of the population has disappeared over the last decade and there are now thought to be fewer than one million left.
There are many likely causes for this dramatic disappearance; each one alone is a problem for our prickly pals, but together they combine to make life exceptionally hard for hogs.
Habitat loss and development – particularly the loss of hedgerows, habitat fragmentation and the intensification of agriculture – is to blame. Roads, garden pest control – including slug pellets – and the increasing use of impenetrable garden fencing particularly affects our urban hedgehogs.
Sheffield’s hedgehogs
Monitoring hedgehogs is difficult and we cannot know for sure how many hedgehogs are left in Sheffield, let alone the UK. In order to help address our lack of knowledge, our Nature Counts project, supported by the National Lottery through the Heritage Lottery Fund, asked people to record local hedgehog sightings in order to better understand the population.
The records we collected through this survey are helping to develop effective conservation efforts to save Britain’s favourite species, which have been sent to both Sheffield Biodiversity Records Centre (which feeds into the National Biodiversity Network) and to the Hedgehog Street team to help fill knowledge gaps.
View our hedgehog map to see where hedgehogs have been located near you.
Haven’t seen a hedgehog?
If you haven’t seen hedgehogs in your garden but would like to attract them, you can download our Hedgehog Heroes booklet to find out how to garden for wildlife and help hedgehogs thrive.
We’re also encouraging people to link their gardens to allow hedgehogs free movement across the city to find food and mates. Here are some guides on how to create a hedgehog hole and how to create a hedgehog house.
Hedgehog Street also have some top tips on how to link your garden and encourage hedgehogs. You can even add your hedgehog hole to their hedgehog hole street map.
For more information on long-term monitoring projects, further ways to help and for more information on their current status, visit:
Hedgehog Street
British Hedgehog Preservation Society
People’s Trust for Endangered Species
Found a hedgehog in need of help?
If you see a sick or injured hedgehog, or one that is out during the daytime, it is in need of urgent help. For advice on who to contact, check our local wildlife rescue centres page:
Hedgehog Map
Through our Hedgehog Heroes project we mapped sightings across Sheffield. Check out the sightings submitted on the map below. Email us at mail@wildsheffield.com if you would like to add your own sightings to our records.