What will be the future for hedgehogs as the countryside changes at such an amazing rate? We can only guess, of course, but some changes can only be for the worse as far as hedgehogs are concerned.
Farmlands are not popular with hedgehogs. Insects are controlled by pesticides, so food is short. And there are few trees, meaning that there is little nesting material, and the open fields hold few nesting sites.
The conversion of pasture to arable land means that crops will be sprayed with chemicals, which destroy insects, slugs and worms, the main parts of the hedgehog's diet. And the grubbing-up of hedges and clearance of small patches of waste ground will destroy many good sites for hedgehog hibernation nests.
But as long as hedgehogs prosper in gardens and suburbs, the future isn't entirely bleak!
Info from "Everything You Want To Know about Hedgehogs - Dilys Breese"
I truly hope the hedgehogs manage, despite the destruction of their environment!
ReplyDeleteAaaah, I don't think they're managing so well Studio.... I see more dead hedgehogs next to our roads than alive - new roads are constantly being constructed around our area (because the "Cradle of Humankind' area has now become such an attraction to tourists) and what used to be beautiful, wild territory for them, is now a criss-cross of death traps...
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