Concern over worsening health of hedgehogs

Ms Burdon said it was "getting harder and harder for hedgehogs"

A hedgehog expert has said the health conditions of the animals she rescued this year have been the worst she has seen.

Dru Burdon of the Jersey Hedgehog Preservation Group (JHPG) said the condition of the hedgehogs they had admitted "is worse than it used to be" with some dead on arrival or dying soon after.

She attributed this to a lack of available food because of a hot, dry spring and summer and after pest controllers had asked islanders not to leave food out for wildlife due to a rise in the number of rats.

Ms Burdon said: "It is getting harder and harder for hedgehogs, we are ruining their habitat, warming up the planet so the ground dries up so hard that they cannot dig for food."

Ms Burdon said the long hot and dry spells had made it "almost impossible" for hedgehogs to find food

She said the long periods of dry weather this year had made finding food "almost impossible" for hedgehogs.

She explained: "The youngsters we had in this year were all weaned, but as soon as mum stopped feeding them, they were unable to find their own natural food.

"We also admitted more females than males in the summer and they were all very skinny and malnourished, like they had given all their strength to wean their babies."

In October 2023 the JHPG admitted 79 hedgehogs, 47 of which subsequently died with 26 released while during October 2024 71 were admitted, with 38 later dying and 15 being released.

Last month just 27 hedgehogs were admitted, with 16 dying and 13 released.

Ms Burdon said the hedgehogs that had been seen during the year had appeared to cluster around the gardens where people were feeding them.

"People do report several coming each evening, but not in the numbers they had in previous years," she added.

She said hedgehogs could not get into fenced and walled gardens and design features such as plastic grass, paving and decking offered nowhere for them to nest and less natural food.

She asked islanders to have hedgehog-friendly gardens, create openings between their gardens and put out food and water for them.