National Hedgehog Scheme comes to Rothbury! Hedgehogs need your help! We need volunteers.

Rothbury has been chosen as the newest site to be part of the National Hedgehog Monitoring Programme (NHMP), a conservation scheme launched by the People’s Trust for Endangered Species and British Hedgehog Preservation Society in partnership with Nottingham Trent University, the Zoological Society of London, and Durham University. The National Hedgehog Monitoring Programme The British Hedgehog Preservation Society

HEDGEHOGS ARE IN DECLINE

Sadly, our much-loved hedgehogs are threatened having undergone considerable population decline in recent decades. To reverse this trend, we need to remove the threats they face and put in place practical conservation measures. But before we can do this effectively, we need to understand where and why hedgehogs are struggling. That’s where the National Hedgehog Monitoring Programme comes in, and it’s coming to Rothbury!

The NHMP aims to discover just how many of our spikey friends are rustling around any given area. Surveys that only indicate where hedgehogs are may not spot when they are struggling. Monitoring the actual numbers of adults and their hoglets can provide a warning if the population is in trouble.

A prickly fella caught on an NHMP camera

ARE GEORDIE HEDGEHOGS DIFFERENT?

The scheme also aims to identify how regional and habitat differences may impact hedgehog populations. So, we can discover if the Geordie Urchins are coping better than the Yorkshire Prickly-Pigs or even the Hodmedods down in Norfolk? This knowledge can then be used to make effective conservation plans which can hopefully begin to reverse the decline of this iconic species.

On behalf of the NHMP, Rothbury CAN (Climate and Nature) has been liaising with the National Trust rangers at Cragside who have kindly agreed to host our branch of the project. A suitable site, one-kilometre square, has been identified on the estate and it's here that we will be setting up motion-activated cameras to record any passing Erinaceus Europaeus (hedgehogs to you and me) as well as other mammals.

WE NEED VOLUNTEERS

Setting up and calibrating thirty cameras is no small task. On the day we anticipate needing both a morning and an afternoon shift, each of about 3 hours. You don’t need to know anything about setting camera traps, we will be trained. We will be working among the wonderful trees of Cragside, under the direction of our friends and experts from Durham University, and alongside rangers from the estate.

We haven’t settled on an exact date yet, sometime in late June/early July is looking favourite. But in the meantime, if you think you might like to join us for one or both shifts, please let Judy or David know by emailing tubbyewe@gmail.com and we will keep you in the loop.

Your spiney friends will thank you.

Blog post by David Goff tubbyewe@gmail.com