The person who took this video has now made her garden fence hedgehog-accessible, and her hedgehogs are very happy.
As well as monitoring water voles, this year I've been keeping tabs on my garden hedgehogs. I thought I'd mark them to see if I could work out how many individuals I had using the lawn as their territory, and I did this by painting the spines carefully with white Humbrol enamel paint (it must not touch the skin though).
Since May I've had at least seventeen individuals coming and going to take the cat biscuits I put out each night, though some only made a brief appearance. No babies or juveniles either, despite several courting pairs. I've seen fighting hedgehogs too. The camera I use is a Bushnell, tied to a Fladen umbrella spike that I can push into the ground.
Excitingly, someone else in the road must also be marking hedgehogs because there are definitely hogs with patterns I've not painted who turn up from time to time.
I've logged the sightings myself, but I've also sent them in to www.hedgehogstreet.org, an outfit who are trying to get a picture of how the species is doing nationally. Thousands of other people across the country have also sent results in.
If you see a hedgehog out during the day, it's almost certainly in trouble, so quickly get advice from the British Hedgehog Preservation
Society on 01584 890801 or from St
Tiggywinkles on 01844 292292. Don't delay. And if you're in the North Shrops/South Cheshire area and you have a car, you can take injured hogs to Stapeley Grange Wildlife rescue, London Road, Nantwich CW5 7JW, tel: 0870 4427102.
Finally, many thanks to the Shropshire Star for posting a feature on my hedgehogs this week:
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