Remember Hedgehogs this Bonfire Night Season

Bonfire night and fireworks are on the way! Enjoy yourself, but please do think about hibernating hedgehogs when making and lighting your bonfire.

Surrey Wildlife Trust has put out a warning about the impact on hedgehogs during bonfire season and has some recommended tips to help protect our prickly friends - if you're going to bonfire, why not check to make sure that your hosts are following these simple steps?

• Consider piling material near the site of your fire and building your bonfire just before lighting. This will give small creatures less chance to move in.
• Check your bonfire carefully before setting it on fire and remove any small inhabitants - rehome in a safe area away from dogs or cats, such as under a hedge or large bush and well away from your bonfire.
• If you do have to build your bonfire beforehand, consider constructing a fence around it made of chicken wire, to help deter any mammals looking for a cosy home.

"A stack of dry wood and leaves piled up for a bonfire might look to a hedgehog like the perfect place to overwinter and sadly we fear many animals do perish in fires every year," said Dawn Fielding, the Trust's Wildlife Gardening Officer.

"Gardeners love these adorable prickly creatures, as they eat bugs and slugs and are great for natural pest control. But hedgehogs are undergoing an unprecedented decline, with some experts recently warning of possible extinction within ten years! So it's vitally important we all do what we can to protect them."

There is more information on hedgehogs and their decline since the 1950s on the Surrey Wildlife Trust website article.