How To Optimise Our Gardens As Habitats For Hedgehogs

Dr Hedgehog will present her research on the different challenges hedgehogs face when sharing habitats with humans and residing in our gardens. She’ll discuss what we can do to make our gardens more hedgehog-friendly, and thereby improve the conservation initiatives directed at this beloved and declining species.

Q&A with Dr Sophie Lund Rasmussen

Dr Sophie Lund Rasmussen (aka Dr Hedgehog) is an expert on European hedgehogs and is a research fellow at Linacre College and the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU) at the University of Oxford. She has worked dedicatedly with hedgehog research and conservation since 2011.

What is causing the rural decline of hedgehogs?

Yeah, well, definitely the intensified agricultural practices we’ve seen develop through decades is, of course, affecting hedgehogs. I would really like to look into the diets of hedgehogs even more. I have 800 poo samples in my freezer ready for analysis, but I just need the funding to analyse them.

Does the danger with roads mean that we shouldn’t encourage hedgehogs into urban parks?

We at least need to educate the different town councils to provide green corridors for dispersal for the hedgehogs to make it safer. And people can also encourage their town city councils to buy hedgehog crossing road signs, so any hotspots for traffic injuries could be highlighted.

Are the levels of pesticides that you’ve measured in hedgehogs lethal?

The issue is that we don’t know what the lethal dose for hedgehogs would be, because the hedgehogs are not tested as they’re a protected species. We therefore have to use other species, such as rats, to guess based on the levels on pesticide detected. And in some cases, the doses of rodenticides would have been lethal. We are now looking at the organs of these hedgehogs (such as the liver and kidney) to see whether we can see any changes caused by these pesticides accumulating. But it’s an ongoing process and it requires more funding.

Can you recommend any robotic lawnmower brands that have already been approved as being hedgehog safe?

There are definitely models that are more hedgehog-friendly than others and I would encourage you to look at my publications. You can find them on the website: www.drhedgehog.org.

Literature References

Rasmussen (2019) PhD Thesis: The Danish Hedgehog Project How Humans Influence Hedgehogs and How Hedgehogs May Affect Humans When Living Closely Together: http://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.18803.48167
Rasmussen et al (2024) A Review of the Occurrence of Metals and Xenobiotics in European Hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus): https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14020232
Rasmussen et al (2024) Pesticides in the population of European hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus) in Denmark: https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2024.1436965
Rasmussen et al (2021) Wildlife Conservation at a Garden Level: The Effect of Robotic Lawn Mowers on European Hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus): https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11051191
Rasmussen et al (2023) Facing Danger: Exploring Personality and Reactions of European Hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus) towards Robotic Lawn Mowers: https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14010002
Rasmussen et al (2024) Testing the Impact of Robotic Lawn Mowers on European Hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus) and Designing a Safety Test: https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14010122