Thank you for buying a calendar and supporting FSP – May everyone be able to fill the pages with postive plans for 2021!
Happy New Year to all
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Hedgehog Diaries – Midsummer
Those hedgehogs that had their litters in June will have started to take their babies out on foraging trips at night. This is so that the babies start to learn to find food for themselves. They won’t leave their mother just yet through, returning to the nest with her and continuing to take her milk as well as the food they find whilst out and about. It’ll be a few more weeks before they’re ready to leave, but they will be starting to develop the vital skills that they need to be able to survive on their own.
Did you know: the biggest predator of hedgehogs in the UK is the badger. Find out more here.
You may have seen in the news , headlines telling us that a number of our beloved native species are seriously in danger Amongst them is the hedgehog. If we all do a little bit to improve the environment for our prickly friends, we can play our part in helping to change that. Here are the things that you can be doing this month in your garden and in the local area to be kind to hedgehogs:
- Review the chemicals that you might be using in your garden. Slug pellets are a major threat to hedgehogs. They forage for the slugs and snails and can inadvertently ingest these poisonous chemicals. Slug pellets should be avoided at all cost as they kill hedgehogs.
- Remember to check overgrown areas before you use a strimmer.
- Don’t forget the importance of creating a small gap in your fences (13 cm by 13 cm) to help local hogs to get about more easily.
- Offering clean, fresh water to visiting hogs will continue to be a small, but very important, thing that you can do over the weeks ahead.
SPOTTED A HEDGEHOG IN YOUR GARDEN? If you spot a hedgehog either in your garden or somewhere in the local area, please let us know. It would be really exciting to build up a picture of where and when they are being seen locally.
You can also log your sightings with Hedgehog Street (the project run by the Hedgehog Preservation Society) who are building up a national picture of the state of our hog population. Find out more here
If you spot a hedgehog out during the middle of the day, they may well be in trouble. Contact Willow Wildlife for advice on 07956 472284 or Michelle (on behalf of Friends of Shrewsbury Park) on 07849 534759.
More from the Hedgehog Diaries next month.
Have you seen our new video?
We’re taking part in Severndroog Castle’s online festival from 29 August, and they asked us to make a video to support it.
THE HEDGEHOG DIARIES: JUNE
As we learned last month, May was when the hedgehog breeding season started to get into full swing. Once pregnant, it will be around four weeks before a hedgehog mother gives birth to her litter. The number of hoglets born will normally be between four and five.
For those mothers who started the breeding season early, their hoglets may already have started to emerge from the nest. It’s more likely that you’ll start to see babies in July, but keep your eyes open because you never know when they’ll be about.
Did you know that a hedgehog can live for up to 6 years? Find out MORE HERE.
Here are our top hedgehog tips for this month:
SPOTTED A HEDGEHOG? If you spot a hedgehog either in your garden or somewhere in the local area, please let us know. It would be really exciting to build up a picture of where and when they are being seen locally.
You can also log your sightings with Hedgehog Street (project run by the Hedgehog Preservation Society) who are building up a national picture of the state of our hog population. Find out MORE HERE. ‘Make a hole, make a difference!’
CONTINUE TO PROVIDE FRESH WATER Although we’ve had a lot of rain in recent weeks, fresh water remains an important resource. Continue to put out a shallow dish in your garden and keep it topped up with fresh water throughout the month.
GARDEN PONDS If you have a pond in your garden, you may get hedgehogs visiting for water and to find yummy invertebrates to eat. Always make sure that there is an escape route, with a gentle shelved area to allow any animals who fall in to the water a to get out easily. Hedgehogs can swim, but may drown if they are unable to climb out of the water.
LITTER PICK Sadly, there have been instances of littering in our parks and open spaces. If you’re out and about and see something that could be harmful to wildlife, please consider carefully picking it up and placing it in a bin. Always be aware of vital hand hygiene, though, and it’s recommended that you wear gloves. Thoroughly wash your hands for at least 20 seconds if you touch anything that has been discarded.
Some of the things that can be particularly harmful to animals like hedgehogs include:
- Discarded elastic bands: they can be an entanglement risk
- The plastic holders from multipack drinks cans: they can be an entanglement risk
- The plastic/foil/cardboard tubes that some savoury snacks come in: these represent a suffocation risk to small mammals such as hedgehogs
NOT BUILT YOUR HEDGEHOG SUPER-HIGHWAY YET? Don’t forget that it’s a simple case of cutting a 13 cm x 13 cm hole at the bottom of a fence panel to create one. This gives hedgehogs the chance to roam between gardens, find suitable nesting spaces and a plentiful supply of health food and water.
Check out recent VIDEO HERE Got any grub….
If you spot a hedgehog out during the middle of the day, they may well be in trouble. Contact Willow Wildlife for advice on 07956 472284 or Michelle (on behalf of Friends of Shrewsbury Park) on 07849 534759.
More from the Hedgehog Diaries next month.
Thank you Michelle!
Join us! Become a Friend of Shrewsbury Park
THE HEDGEHOG DIARIES: MAY 2020
May is the month when love is in the air for our hedgehogs.
Keep an ear out for loud grunting and snuffling noises in the garden at night. This could be a giveaway of amorous hedgehog activity.
Did you know, that after mating, the male hedgehog leaves and takes no part in rearing the young? You may see a hedgehog collecting leaves for bedding material, it’s possible this could be a female preparing her nest for the arrival of her babies. If you’d like to know more about hedgehog mating behaviour, you can read more here. https://www.hedgehogstreet.org/about-hedgehogs/hoglets/
Here are some of the things that you can be doing in May to help for the arrival of this season’s baby hedgehogs.
FRESH WATER
We’re still experiencing very dry conditions, so the top recommendation this month is to continue to put out plenty of fresh water. Use shallow bowls that are easy for the hedgehogs to drink from.
Remember that meaty dog or cat food is a great supplement to their diet. Whilst beetles are their favourite, putting out a bowl of food will give them an extra boost.
STRIMMING YOUR GARDEN? PLEASE TAKE CARE!
Strimmers are one of the biggest causes of serious injury & death for garden hedgehogs. If you are using a strimmer, please check all areas of long grass and brambles carefully first. A hedgehog was found in the park a couple of years ago that had suffered a rear leg amputation. Sadly the hog had to be put to sleep, and it was felt highly likely that he or she had suffered a strimmer injury.
LEAVE AN AREA OF YOUR GARDEN FOR NATURE
Hedgehogs will often bed down in overgrown areas of a garden. If you can leave at least one area untouched, then the wildlife will love you forever! You’ll benefit from visits from bees and butterflies as well as other species. If you include some dead wood, you’re also creating the perfect habitat for our endangered stag beetles. Visit https://ptes.org/campaigns/stag-beetles-2/stag-beetle-facts/
BUILD A HEDGEHOG SUPER-HIGHWAY
If you haven’t yet spoken to your neighbours about creating a hedgehog super-highway, then there’s no time like the present. Just a 13 cm x 13 cm hole at the bottom of a fence panel is all it takes. You could be rewarded with the pitter-patter of tiny hoglet paws in the months to come if you do!
Hedgehog Diaries #1
We can proudly announce the first of a continuing series of Hedgehog Diaries written by Michelle, an FSP member and hedgehog champion.
Keep moving! says RBG
Instructions from Royal Borough of Greenwich when you’re exercising in the park
PLEASE DO NOT sunbathe
DO NOT sit on benches or the grass
DO NOT play sports, even 2m apart
It’s tough, but vital in the circumstances if we want this park to stay open and be ready when we can roam free again. Thank you, friends and neighbours
MORE Lockdown Gallery
Courtesy of John Donnelly
Courtesy of Joyce Smith
Using the park safely during the pandemic
You’ll be aware of the importance of social distancing in the park, tempting as it is to wander. We’d all like to be as carefree as the animals right now! But please obey the rules, and remind others who may forget.
We have received regulations, apologies and encouragement to pass on from the Royal Borough of Greenwich. This is a recap for your information.
- All 2020 Parksfest events are cancelled – we had just begun to plan and book gigs.
- The car park gates will be permanently open from 1 April due to budget cuts. I attended two meetings recently which included the Director and other council officers in Parks and Open Spaces and they will continue to monitor the effects of this action – one that many opposed. Thank you to everyone who answered the last minute call to challenge the consultation, that’s what got us the meeting. There are suggestions to appeal which we will follow up but everyone is currently dealing with priority issues.
- Please have a look at the information below from Rob Goring of Park Dept.
And most of all, continue to appreciate the park. Although we can’t guarantee any walks or events in Shrewsbury Park for the near future, the ideas remain fresh and ready to go.
If you are doing your solitary exercise, listening to the birds and the buds popping open, and you see a photo opportunity or have some creative thoughts please send your pictures to us at werfsp@gmail.com and we’ll add them to a gallery here.
Best wishes for your safety and calm in the coming weeks. Nature is doing it’s best to keep us cheerful.
Kris and the Management Committee
From Rob Goring, Strategy and Development Manager of Parks and Open Spaces:
As of 25 March we will be temporarily closing all:
- Park Playgrounds
- Outdoor gyms
- Park sports facilities
All park cafes should also be closing but some may remain open to provide takeaway services only.
Our parks will remain open to allow people to exercise once a day but people using our parks should social distance and keep at least 2 metres away from people outside their households.
No more than 2 people may gather in our parks and open spaces except where the gathering is of a group of people who live together – this means that a parent can, for example, take their children to the shops if there is no option to leave them at home.
Most parks office staff are remote working i.e. working from home and Grounds Maintenance staff and Park Rangers are not classified as key workers and therefore will not be attending work, in-line with government instructions. However, if possible we may have a couple of Rangers/Ranger Managers working each day to carry out checks in parks.
Our Cemeteries and Crematorium are open and operating as normal but again in line with government instructions people should social distance where possible and keep at least 2 metres away from people outside their households. In terms of people attending funeral services it is advised that only members of the immediate family should attend.