​

Step 2: Log the Hog

​

​

​

​

​

​

 

 

Above - The Big Hedgehog Map - Hedgehog Street Feb 2020

 

The second most important step is to Log the Hog! That is, if you have seen a hedgehog, alive or dead, or created a hedgehog hole in your fence, please tell the experts about it! The more we know about where our local hedgehogs are foraging, sleeping and, unfortunately - dying, the more we can help them.  

​

The Big Hedgehog Map  https://bighedgehogmap.org/   is the largest mapping recorder for hogs in the UK and it needs us, as a community, to start sharing our hoggie data. With evidence we can make change. Our recent engagement with school children made it clear that there are a number of households with visiting hedgehogs, a number of hedgehog highways already in existence and hoggie homes being lovingly built and monitored by children, parents and grandparents alike. We simply need to capture this information on this national site for the benefit of local hedgehogs and those further afield. 

​

 We need the Walmley community to help us capture as much hedgehog related information as we can to evidence hedgehog numbers and activity locally. This will be valuable information for local environmental bodies and development decision makers into the future. Understanding what is currently here will also help us prioritise interventions where more hedgehoggy support is needed. 

​

Below - screenshot from local records centre species mapping - Hedgehogs (to 2016). Whilst somewhat outdated, this suggests there were no hedgehog records in the Walmley area 2005-2016. So were there no hedgehogs in Walmley at this time? Its highly likely there were, however,  wildlife recording is heavily reliant on community records being voluntarily submitted to the records centre as species evidence. Its more likely that no-one was simply recording any hedgehogs. This demonstrates the importance of wildlife recording. 

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​