Hedgehog survey

Hedgehog tunnel survey

Manx Wildlife Trust is interested in the population numbers of hedgehogs on the Island. The UK has seen a worrying decline in the species and The People's Trust for Endangered Species and the British Hedgehog Society joined forces and have been monitoring this trend. In their recent ‘State of Britain’s Hedgehogs’ report they estimate that between 2002 and 2017 rural hedgehog populations have fallen by a third.

So why did this happen?

There are many possible reasons and isolating it to one dominant factor is difficult, but probably it is a combination of intensification of agriculture (habitat loss and reduction in insect prey), road casualties (rural lanes are poorly lit) and predation by badgers and foxes. Having neither of these two predators on Island makes the Manx population more interesting to study as we can possibly compare similar UK and Manx sites. Urban hedgehogs are under pressure owing to the trend for gardens to become poorer in wildlife due to decking, paving and less gardens with flowers and vegetables, plus the development of new houses taking away their habitat on the border of towns.

How can you help?

 Even though the Island is small, Manx Wildlife Trust cannot monitor all the land, plus the fact that hedgehogs are nocturnal doesn’t help. We are asking the public to become involved with monitoring and reporting back to us in a citizen science experiment. By placing a hedgehog tunnel in your garden and monitoring it for footprints we will be able to see if there are hedgehogs present. Even if you don’t record any footprints, this still informs us of the population size and trends.

It is any easy project to undertake and just requires setting up the tunnel near a hedge or wall in your garden, and leaving it baited with food to entice the hedgehog in. Any animal visitors will then walk over an ink pad and leave footprints behind. This is a safe and harmless way to detect hedgehogs! It’s a lovely activity to get the whole family involved in and you can lend your tunnel out to other friends and family. All we ask is that you report back on the date, location, if the bait was taken and if you found any footprints of hedgehogs.