Did you know there are hedgehogs in Forest Hill that need your help? Tim Lund (Friends of Dacres Wood Nature Reserve) provided us with news about the plight of local hedgehogs.
This
hedgehog was found in the daytime in August in Dacres Wood
Nature Reserve, but hedgehogs are active mostly at night when they travel 1-2km
in search of food. A neighbour of the reserve, who had seen hedgehogs with
their young in her garden in the last year, first realised they were about when
she heard a persistent scraping coming from one of her flower pots. Since then
she has made sure her pots are kept upside down and, with the help of
neighbours, made holes in fences to help them access other gardens.
In
light of how the UK’s hedgehog population has fallen 30 percent in the last 10
years, this year’s Wild About Gardens Week — which is run by the Royal
Horticultural Society — is focusing on hedgehogs’ neighbourhood needs. Making
‘hog holes’ between gardens is one of the best things we can do to help.
Our
local nature reserves, together with the railway embankments and the gardens
backing onto them, provide valuable habitats for wildlife that sometimes goes
unnoticed. To support the plight of hedgehogs, the Forest Hill Society and the
Friends of Dacres Wood Nature Reserve (FoDWNR) are asking local people to do
what they can to help — whether by growing a diversity of plants, leaving wild
corners alone, creating water sources with safe access (i.e., ponds with
beaches or ramps), creating log piles (to attract hedgehog prey) or building
shelters, and by avoiding the use of pesticides.
As for
the hedgehog shown, sadly it was injured and did not survive. If you happen to
come across any during the day, there are local charities that will try to help
and then release them back into the wild.
• For more info about Wild About Gardens Week (26th October-1st November), visit www.wildaboutgardensweek.org.uk.
• For more info about the FoDWNR, visit dacreswood.org.uk.
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