Campaign to protect hedgehogs
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Over the past 10 years, the amount of hedgehogs have dropped by around 30%. In aid of this, The RHS and The Wildlife Trusts are working alongside the British Hedgehog street campaign to show the importance of protecting our hedgehogs. The campaign will take place during the Wild About Gardening Week, from October 26th to the beginning of November. Many organisations are getting involved to promote the week to encourage people to prevent hedgehogs from suffering a further decline, especially during the winter months.
They are reaching out to gardeners to create safer parts in your garden to protect hedgehogs, as each night they can travel more than a mile. The basis of the week will be around hedgehog themed talks and workshops. Firstly, the week is starting to encourage us to make small cuts in fences by around 5 inches for hedgehogs to cut through. Also, there are instructions available for making a hedgehog house.
A competition is being held throughout the week which is targeted to schools, individuals and groups to make a hedgehog home. The competition will draw attention to the week especially as schools are involved as it will draw in local communities.
There are many tips available to ensure the safety of hedgehogs. Instead of erecting a fence in your garden, a hedge will be a safer option and will allow the hedgehog to always fit through. They also suggest to use organic slug pellets to prevent the hedgehogs from being poisoned. The British Hedgehog Preservation Society have suggested that in your garden you could create a wildlife pond, but fill it will rocks to prevent them drowning whilst they're enjoying the water.
Hedgehogs eat insects from the garden, which live in long grass, so it is important not to mow your lawn too short. They also live off plants which attract pollinators, which is a factor to considering when investing in your flower garden.
For information on hedgehogs and how to encourage them into your garden visit http://www.birstall.co.uk/blog/how-encourage-hedgehogs-into-garden/
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