Chris Packham and Camping in the Forest join forces to help our hedgehogs!

What do TV personality and wildlife expert Chris Packham, Camping in the Forest and school children all have in common? Well…each has joined forces to help raise awareness of the diminishing hedgehog population in the UK and the importance of looking after all of our wildlife’s natural habitats.

The UK’s hedgehog population is thought to have fallen by 30% since 2003 to less than 1 million* from a whopping 36 million in the 1950’s. According to our recent survey, a third of us now see hedgehogs in the wild less than once a year, with 16% admitting to having never seen one in its natural environment. Yet despite this, though we realise it’s important, 59% of us do nothing to help preserve our nature’s numbers because we either don’t have time, or wouldn’t know where to start.

The ‘Harry the Hedgehog Goes Camping’ campaign has been developed to tie in with the school curriculum for pupils in Year 3, and invites them to write their own short stories about Harry the Hedgehog and his camping adventures. Designed to help teach the generation of the future the importance of sustaining all of our wildlife, the stories will be judged by Chris Packham himself, who will visit the winning school to deliver a bespoke wildlife assembly on the importance of nature and helping to preserve our environment.
Chris-Packham

Chris Packham comments: “The UK has an abundance of beautiful animals and plants, and it’s so important that we teach our children how to protect and enjoy them, to make sure they stay around for generations to come. From Buzzards to Hedgehogs, each and every species plays an important role in its ecosystem – whether in a forest, field, or our own back gardens. I am determined to teach children how to appreciate and look after these, which is why I have joined forces with Camping in the Forest.”

The Harry the Hedgehog campaign is running from now until 31^st May 2016. If you would like your school to get involved, please email: hedgehog@bright-consultancy.co.uk.

7 ways to help hedgehogs

Build a hedgehog home – give your local hedgehog a space to rest by building them a home in your garden. First impressions count, so make your garden as welcoming as possible by cutting 13 cm x 13cm holes in the bottom of your fence. Piling log and leaf piles in a quiet corner of your garden will allow any visiting hedgehogs to have a cosy stay!

Cover up – with their poor eyesight and incredibly curious nature, hedgehogs often find themselves falling into holes and getting stuck! For a cheap and easy way to keep our prickly friends safe, cover drains, swimming pools and ponds with chicken wire and weigh down with stones

Keep it clean – avoid leaving rubbish – especially plastic can holders, large necked bottles and food pots – which can easily trap and injure hedgehogs. Not only will this create a safe environment, but your squeaky clean garden will be the envy of all your neighbours.

Kick chemicals to the curb – when entering a new environment, hedgehogs like to lick new smells and surfaces to find their way around. With this in mind, avoid using nasty poisonous pesticides, insecticides and slug pellets, which can poison hedgehogs and kill their prey!

Watch out, there’s a hedgehog about – when it comes to hide and seek, the hedgehog is unrivalled, often concealing itself in long grass and overgrown hedges. So, with the summer months coming up, be extra careful when using strimmer’s or lawnmowers in the garden.

Food Freebies – hedgehogs may be small, but they love a good meal! Set up a feeding station with meat-based cat or dog food, crushed unsalted peanuts, mealworms and fresh water. If you fancy giving that special hedgehog in your life an extra treat, then specialist food can also be bought from wildlife food suppliers.

Be careful with bonfires – countless hedgehogs have been injured from taking up residence in bonfire piles. To avoid burning your little friend, build your bonfire as close to the time of lighting as possible and check thoroughly before setting alight.

*http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/feb/28/lack-of-sightings-drop-hedgehog-population