Hedgehogs

What It Covers

Scientists Sophie Lund Rasmussen and Hugh Warwick join poet Pam Ayres to explore hedgehog biology, evolutionary history, conservation challenges, and practical actions to protect Britain's declining hedgehog populations through habitat connectivity and garden management.

Key Questions Answered

• •Population viability: Hedgehogs require connected gardens totaling one square kilometer to support a minimum viable population of thirty-two individuals, making suburban habitat connectivity through fence holes critical for genetic diversity and species survival in fragmented landscapes.
• •Genetic research methods: Counting growth rings in hedgehog jawbones reveals age, with the oldest recorded hedgehog reaching sixteen years. Danish populations show severe inbreeding comparable to forty isolated individuals, though health impacts remain unclear, requiring further parasitology and longevity studies.
• •Modern threats: Robotic lawnmowers running at night kill hedgehogs whose freeze-and-curl defense evolved for predators detecting movement fails against machines. Researchers developed three-d printable crash test dummies called Spike to help manufacturers design hedgehog-safe models with improved detection systems.
• •Garden conservation: Create thirteen-centimeter holes in fences and walls to enable hedgehogs to travel their natural two-kilometer nightly range. Provide fresh water daily, avoid fine netting at ground level, and maintain wild gardens with insect populations as primary food sources.