Become a Hedgehog hero to help one of Shropshire's declining animals

Shropshire Wildlife Trust’s Hedgehog Heroes project was set up to work with communities around the county to try and make Shropshire a better place for hedgehogs to live.

The Trust’s Oswestry Branch is working with Hedgehog Officer, Kathryn Jones, to run a survey of the prickly creatures in several streets close to Oswestry town centre. Questionnaires have been delivered in the Roft Street, Stewart Road and Ferrers Road areas in co-operation with the Trinity Residents Association, inviting people to take part.

Initially, the project is looking at where there are hedgehogs and what people are already doing to help them.

Those who wish to help with the project will then be given opportunities to find out how they can make specific changes to their gardens for the benefit of hedgehogs.

“The most serious problem hedgehogs have in towns and villages is fencing and walls, which stop them from roaming safely between gardens. This reduces their foraging opportunities and forces them out on to roads, where they are vulnerable to traffic,” said Kathryn

“Hedgehogs can move about a mile each night to find food and meet other hedgehogs for breeding – it’s vital that we make it possible for them to do this.

” Making a five-inch hole or two at the bottom of each side of your boundary fences will allow hedgehogs to pass safely and easily from one garden to another and minimise their need to cross roads.

Insecticides and slug pellets destroy the creatures that hedgehogs need to eat, wiping out their food supplies.

"A healthy wildlife population will do much to keep your pests in check – frogs and hedgehogs slurp up slugs and invertebrates, while birds eat thousands of insects too. Let nature do your pest control.

"Hedgehogs need to drink and ponds are useful to all wildlife. Ensure that at least part of the edge is shallow so they can get out. They can swim, but often drown in steep-sided ponds.

"Put wire netting over basement window vents to ensure hedgehogs don’t fall in and get trapped.

"Log and leaf piles, wild areas and purpose-built hedgehog homes make great places for hedgehogs to nest, forage and hibernate. Fallen leaves also make perfect nesting material, so don’t clear them all away."

People are also being urged to ask neighbours to help hedgehogs too.

"The further they can wander, the better their chance of finding enough food, shelter and other hogs. Isolated populations are fragile and susceptible to further decline."

More can be discovered about the Hedgehog Heroes of Shropshire project on their Facebook page.