It’s no secret that hedgehogs are in trouble. In 2020, hedgehogs were officially classed as being vulnerable to extinction in the UK and added to the Red List of Britain’s mammals: a record of at-risk species. A 2018 report by the People’s Trust for Endangered Species and the British Hedgehog Preservation Society estimated that more than half of the hedgehogs in rural areas, and around a third of those in urban areas had disappeared since the year 2,000.

For three years we’ve conducted an annual hedgehog survey to see if the hedgehog populations in our region mirror the trends seen across the rest of the country. We were thrilled that, this year, so many of you wanted to help, and we saw a 25 per cent increase in survey responses!

How many hedgehogs did people see?

In total, 1,801 hedgehogs were reported. Most people spotted just one hedgehog during their sighting, but 819 people spotted more than one hedgehog at once (a huge increase from 44 in our 2020 hedgehog survey).

627 people had seen a hedgehog in the past month alone and 1,198 had seen one in the last year. Worryingly, it had been 10 or more years since 37 people last saw a hedgehog, with seven people unable to remember when they last saw one because it was so long ago. 13 people hadn’t seen a hedgehog for more than 20 years, and eight people had never seen a hedgehog at all – an absolute tragedy.

Of the hedgehogs recorded, 1,249 were reported as being alive, 31 as being dead, and 68 as being roadkill specifically. This mirrors our previous two hedgehog surveys, where most of the hedgehogs were thankfully reported as being alive, the second-most as roadkill and the least as dead.

This year, we gathered more data about what your hedgehogs were doing when you saw them. 690 were busy feeding, which is great news, and 12 were spotted gathering nesting material or preparing their nest. One was even found in a compost bin, showing just how valuable home composting is for wildlife.

Unfortunately, 32 hedgehogs were spotted out and about in the daytime, but we were pleased to see that the concerned survey respondents had taken the hogs to their local hedgehog rescue centre. Many were found to be sick, injured or, sadly, dying, so it’s really important that if you spot one of these nocturnal mammals out in the day, you contact a hedgehog rescue for help and advice

68 hedgehogs were spotted in the road or crossing a road, and the majority of these were roadkill, which perfectly illustrates the challenges these creatures face in the modern world where their habitat and foraging routes are sliced up by busy, dangerous roads.

Where are hedgehogs doing well in Lancashire, Greater Manchester and North Merseyside?

As with our 2020 hedgehog survey, the places that reported the most hedgehog sightings were urban or suburban towns and cities:

• Preston – 183
• Wigan – 138
• Manchester and Salford – 127
• Bolton – 91
• Lancaster – 78
• Liverpool – 66

In fact, when it came to habitat, 706 sightings came from suburban spots rather than the rural areas you’d traditionally expect to see hedgehogs. 332 sightings did come from rural areas, and 305 came from urban ones. Oddly, this year’s survey bucked the trend in that the most roadkill hedgehogs weren’t seen in urban environments, but on rural roads. Could this be because a loss of habitat and cover in the countryside is driving hedgehogs onto the roads, or because their numbers are beginning to recover in the countryside?

The huge majority of hedgehog sightings – 1,031, in fact – came from peoples’ gardens, which shows just how important these stepping stone habitats are for hedgehogs. Garden visitors were recorded as feeding, drinking water, nesting and even mating! Survey respondents described how the hogs were eating their slugs and snails, using log and leaf piles, using hedgehog homes and passing between gardens through hedgehog holes. Let’s hear it for hedgehog-friendly gardens!

16 people specified that they saw a hedgehog in a green area – like a wood or scrubland – bordering their garden, which illustrates the importance of interconnected green spaces.

Ways you can help hedgehogs

By filling in our 2021 hedgehog survey you have already given us valuable data that can be used to help hedgehogs in Lancashire, Greater Manchester and North Merseyside. We’ll pass these records to our three local wildlife record centres:

• Lancashire Environment Record Network (LERN)
• Greater Manchester Local Record Centre (GMLRC)
• Merseyside BioBank

The record centre will add this to their existing bank of data so they can build a more accurate picture of how hedgehogs are doing in our region. Each record centre gathers data throughout the year, so do keep sending your hedgehog sightings directly to them.

Regardless of whether you already have a hedgehog-friendly garden or are wanting to make your outdoor space more hedgehog-friendly, there are lots of ways you can help hedgehogs at home. Here are some to get you started.