“Despite their popularity, hedgehogs are now something of a rare sight in British gardens – and are in fact disappearing at the same rate as tigers worldwide” http://theconversation.com/how-to-stop-the-humble-hedgehog-disappearing-from-british-gardens-and-countryside-forever-89432
Hedgehogs, the tiger’s preferred food…or deadliest foe…
“Geoffrey Clifton-Brown (The Cotswolds) (Con)
I commend my hon. Friend for putting some of the facts about wildlife on the record. He is right about the reduction in some of our bird and mammal species, such as the hedgehog.
Dr Paul Monaghan (Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross) (SNP)
Will the hon. Gentleman be kind enough to cite the source of the evidence he just supported?
Geoffrey Clifton-Brown
Well, the source is evident to any countryman out there. There has been a rapid decline in hedgehogs, and we know perfectly well that badgers eat hedgehogs’ young, wild birds and birds’ nests. That, however, is not the subject of the debate, and I do not want to get drawn on that red herring.” https://goo.gl/LYqGfR
Herring and hedgehogs should not be confused, although both are threatened most from the actions of…humans. However herring are considered the most sustainable fish to eat.
Rather than spell out the evident source of these wildlife facts, the sort of ‘countrymen out there’ referred to by Mr Clifton-Brown seem rather busy damming, diverting or dredging all evident sources.
From the Badger culling debate at UK parliament on 27 March.
Transcript at https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2017-03-27/debates/7EE168FA-D5CD-41B5-9563-E801D4777EE3/BadgerCulling.
Video at http://parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/94880530-c845-4ce1-99df-b464223f225e
“In [London’s] Regents Park … [hedgehogs] appear to have learnt to keep clear of the busy roads that are one of the main causes of their decline. … Hedgehogs pinpointed during the survey were found to walk up to 1.5km each night while foraging for slugs, beetles and other invertebrates. … [Researchers] also plan to carry out DNA tests which could reveal if animal-lovers have illicitly released hedgehogs into the park.” (http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jun/02/last-hedgehogs-in-central-london-survived-by-learning-to-avoid-roads)
That hedgehog is never illegal,
Nor has DNA from a beagle;
Just a penchant for slugs,
And beetles and bugs,
And cunning defence against seagulls.
But what is it doing in Regents,
Isolated from its legions?
Avoiding the roads,
Say the electrodes,
It’s baffling all the high heidjins.
The scientists track the moving point,
And analyse max point and min point,
But all they can find,
From fingers and spines,
Is hedgehogs are tricky to pinpoint.
‘Mon the hedgehogs!
“The winner of [BBC Wildlife magazine’s] poll to choose a national species for Britain is… the hedgehog.” Why do we identify most with the hedgehog? Perhaps “its unique appearance, fascinating lifestyle and unthreatening nature.” (http://www.discoverwildlife.com/british-wildlife/britains-national-species-revealed)
And especially its fatal instinct when confronted with urban monsters.
Ecomical 