Having completed Hedgehog Awareness Week 2024, we thought we would share a round up of all the activities and events that went on. For more photos and reels of what we got up too, make sure to follow us on our hedgehog socials @uoshedgehogfriendlycampus
Tuesday 7th May- 10:00-11:30: Hedgehog House Workshop
Using marine ply, we built three hedgehog houses using six pre-cut sides. The roofs are fully removable to make sure you can easily check on how any hedgehogs might be doing. The bases of the hedgehog houses are slightly raised to protect the houses from water damage, keeping them off the ground also keeps it warmer for the hedgehogs. The houses also come complete with a tunnel for the hedgehogs to wriggle through to get in, which also keeps any bigger creatures or predators out. One of these houses will be placed in the gardens of our very own Joule House!
Tuesday 7th May- 12:00-13:00: Hedgehog Friendly Litter Pick
On Tuesday we collected 11 bags of rubbish from our Hedgehog Friendly Litter Pick across Peel Park and David Lewis Playing Fields. All of this will mean that we have removed potential choking or injury hazards caused by plastic and sharp objects for hedgehogs that roam our green spaces.
Wednesday 8th May-9:00-12:00: Hedgehog Fundraising Stall
Ran by Hog Friendly’s Bethany- who is one of SOS-UK’s Hedgehog Friendly Campus Project Managers & Coordinator, we signed up 6 people to our Student Campaigns Workshop and spoke to many more about the efforts we are making across the University to make sure that hedgehogs are protected. The stall showed ink footprints of hedgehogs and compared them to other small mammals that you might also come across in a park or greenspace such as foxes, squirrels, and dogs. The best way to identify a hedgehog paw print is looking for the most human like handprint!
Thursday 9th May-12:00-13:00: Sustainable Campaigns Event with Hog Friendly
Our sustainable campaigns workshop, again ran by Bethany from Hog Friendly, gave participants an overview of hedgehog’s biology, habitats, and what we can do to help protect them. Some facts we picked up from the sessions were…
… hedgehogs are very active and can travel up to 2km per night.
…avoid feeding them milk or bread (which was once common advice), also as a general rule, don’t feed them hedgehog specific food, as it often contains mealworms which studies are now finding can cause metabolic bone disease. Instead, it is best to feed them meaty cat or dog food.
…hedgehog numbers in urban areas are beginning to stabilise.
Friday 10th May-12:00-14:00: Hedgehog themed Bake Stall
Lots of bakes were donated, including hedgehog cupcakes and cookies, brownies, and even a gingerbread hedgehog house which was raffled off. Bakes were up for grabs at Uni House and the Hybrid Futures Symposium at The Fire Station. Green hedgehog badges were also on offer after being kindly donated by Hog Friendly, so keep an eye out for them on lanyards across campus. In total, £150 was raised and all the money went to the British Hedgehog Preservation Society to help protect hedgehogs and their environments. The winner of our gingerbread hedgehog house was our very own Carbon and Energy Manager, Phil!
Thank you to everyone who got involved, we really appreciate all your support, donations, and enthusiasm. Let us know if there are any more hedgehog themed events you want to see from us!