Every time there is a poll to discover the nation’s favourite mammal or nature icon, the hedgehog wins. We are a nation of hedgehog lovers. They are deeply embedded in our society, from children’s stories to imagery. Next time you are in a garden centre, look for the most frequently appearing animal on cushions, mugs, mobiles and other knicknacks. I imagine it will have spines.
Yet we are managing to let this iconic beast slip through our fingers. Research that the British Hedgehog Preservation Society (BHPS) undertakes with the People’s Trust for Endangered Species shows how the population of hedgehogs in the UK has been declining. We don’t have a number for how many there are, but we do know that since the year 2000, we have lost 25% of our urban hedgehogs, and up to 75% of those living in rural areas.
With less scientific rigour, based on my collection of anec-data – anecdote-based data collected from the hundreds of talks I have given to
