A Beautiful, Natural Space at the Heart of the Community
.png)
Hedgehog Rescue Site
Prickles and Paws Hedgehog Hospital is an amazing charity dedicated to the care and rehabilitation of hedgehogs and other British wildlife. They put a huge amount of time and effort into rehabilitating their hedgehogs, and carefully select release sites to give them the best possible chance of survival upon release into the wild.
What We Did
Who doesn't love a hedgehog? We are lucky that these prickly cute characters are often spotted around St Eval, but they are a priority for conservation work as their numbers are currently declining in UK with around a third of the national population lost since the turn of the millennium. To help protect and nurture local numbers, we applied to be an official hedgehog release site.
How We Achieved It
Prickles and Paws Hedgehog Hospital always try to release the hedgehogs admitted back to the location they were found. This gives an advantage to the hedgehogs, particularly adults, as by returning to the area they were found means they will know the area, nest sites and water sources which reduces the adjustment phase upon release. They may also have immunity to diseases in that area. One main criteria to become a release site was having evidence of an existing, active hedgehog population, as this is the best indicator of suitable habitat and provides access to mates. There must also be a large area to roam, some areas of wilderness where the hedgehogs can snuffle for insects, and some hedgehog nesting boxes for the hogs to make a safe haven. We had some beautiful hedgehog nesting boxes made, set them back in the hedge where they would be undisturbed, and applied to the rescue centre...
Oct '22 -The Result
We were absolutely thrilled to have been selected as an official hedgehog release site by Prickles and Paws Hedgehog Rescue in October 2022. We are honoured that our community meadow is able to provide a safe and wonderfully diverse habitat for these special creatures. So far we have collected and released six rehabilitated hedgehogs into the meadow and will continue to support Prickles & Paws wherever we can.
Next...
Hedgehogs are nocturnal and only come out at night. If you see a hedgehog out during the day, or in late Autumn you see an underweight hedgehog limping around, it is probably in trouble and will need to be picked up and taken to Prickles and Paws. You can pick them up carefully using gardening gloves and put them into a cardboard box, although they are good climbers, so you would need to ensure it cannot escape. The amazing team at Prickles & Paws will care for a nurture sick hedgehogs back to health before releasing them back into the wild. Perhaps back into your community meadow!