Herald - Issue 412

Page 44 • The HERALD • 16th September 2021 v SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL SPECIALISTS v | DOWN THE GARDEN PATH | Fred Hurst 023 8084 2191 or 07761 467217 • Grass Cutting • Garden Clearance • Hedge Cutting • Fallen Trees Cleared • Mini Digger Hire with Operator • Property Clearance • Small Demolition • Tractor Flail Cutting FULLY INSURED v FREE QUOTATIONS How Well Do You Know These Spiny Garden Visitors? Information from Wild about Gardening Hibernation While many animals have adapted to cope with the harsh conditions of winter, hedgehogs are one of only a handful of UK mammals to truly hibernate, along with bats and dormice. Depending on the weather and their body condition, they enter a state of torpor from October/ November to March/April, lowering their body temperature and slowing their metabolism to save energy. Hedgehogs must feed intensively and be in great condition before hibernating if they are to have enough reserves to last the winter. Did you know...? • ere are 14 different species of hedgehog around the world. e UK’s hedgehog – the European hedgehog – is found across Western Europe and Scandinavia. • Hedgehogs don’t have great eyesight , so rely on their sense of smell and hearing to navigate. • On average hedgehogs live for 2-5years in the wild, but some have lived up to 10! • An adult hedgehog has up to 7,000 spines and a small, hidden tail. • Some hedgehogs are blonde! is colour mutation is call leucism and is thought to be caused by rare recessive genes. • Hedgehogs are in trouble… Over the past 50 years we’ve seen declines in two thirds of the UK’s plant and animal species, including many of our once common garden species. • Hedgehog numbers have fallen by 30% in just 10 years and there are now thought to be fewer than 1 million le in the UK. • ey are disappearing from our countryside as fast as tigers are worldwide. Hedgehogs are found across the UK, absent only from some Scottish islands. Gardens, hedgerows, woodlands, grasslands, parks and cemeteries are all important hedgehog habitats. Adult hedgehogs travel between 1-2km per night over home ranges as big as 10-20 hectares in size. In suburban areas, this means they range over entire housing estates and neighbourhoods. On the menu Hedgehogs eat a huge range of other garden invertebrates. In fact, beetles, earthworms and caterpillars make up most of their diet. If you want hedgehogs, you need creepy crawlies in abundance which can be attracted by planting a variety of di erent plants and creating habitats such as log piles. Breeding During the breeding season amorous hedgehogs can be seen (and heard!!) circling each other with snorts and grunts. Young are usually born from May onwards in litters of up to ve and the young leave the nest a er around four weeks. Baby hedgehogs (or hoglets) are born with their spines sheathed beneath their skin which then emerge a few hours a er birth.