Hedgehog warning for gardeners
But they warned the number 'is growing every day' as people take advantage of the warm weather to take on garden tasks.
Jenna Lister, triage assistant at the charity's National Wildlife Centre, said: 'With the arrival of warmer weather, we often see an increase in injured hedgehogs being brought into the centre — many of them hurt during gardening activities.
'Strimmer injuries can be devastating, ranging from infected wounds to broken or missing limbs, and in some cases, can be fatal.'
The West European hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) has suffered a 30% population decline of in the past decade.
Last year, its conservation status was raised from Least Concern to Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List, meaning it has moved one step closer to extinction.
Key factors driving the decline of Britain's only spiny mammal include habitat fragmentation from urbanisation and agricultural expansion, vehicle collisions, pesticide use and garden mismanagement.
The Scottish SPCA cared for 89 hedgehogs in the first quarter of 2024, with 59 of the prickly mammals already finding refuge with the charity so far this year.
The charity frequently admits hedgehogs found out during the day in poor condition, which is usually a sign they're unwell and in urgent need of specialist care and encourages people to employing wildlife-friendly garden management practices.
These include leaving natural materials like leaves, logs and moss, which make ideal nesting spots for hedgehogs; removing hazards such as netting and plastic and creating safe spaces for the animals to explore.
Gardeners are urged to check carefully before strimming, digging, or doing other work as hedgehogs often hide in undergrowth or leaf piles, and support the creatures by putting out shallow dishes of water and offering cat food or specially formulated hedgehog food — but never bread or milk.
Anyone who comes across a nest should check for signs of injury but avoid disturbing it and gently cover it back up if all seems well.
Anyone who finds a hedgehog showing signs of distress — such as lying on its side, wobbling, limping, or walking in circles, trapped in netting, drains, or holes – or showing visible injuries should call a wildlife rescue centre or the Scottish SPCA's animal helpline 03000 999 999.
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com
Like this:
Like
Related
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Herald Scotland
7 days ago
- The Herald Scotland
Glasgow School of Art's stained glass studio closure 'ill-judged'
The concern comes as a new stained glass window telling stories of resistance has just been unveiled at the Bridge in Easterhouse, Glasgow. Cameron is one of a number of prominent figures who have criticised the closure of the studio, which had been providing continuing education courses in the craft since the Murals and Stained Glass degree was scrapped in the eighties. Some of those who have attended the classes, taught by artists Eilidh Keith and Geraldine McSporran, have gone on to set up their own glass studios. Read more Dani Garavelli: The GSA took the decision to close the studio in its Haldane building because, it said, it required the space for its expanding number of students. Keith and McSporran are being made redundant. Those who attended the classes insist no effort was made to inform them of the closure. Cameron said he found it hard to believe no alternative space could be found. 'The GSA bought the Stow College building: that's where its fine art department is based. Surely, there's a room in there that could be used,' he said. Professor Dugald Cameron is unhappy with the decision. (Image: George Munro) He spoke out days after the death of Sir Brian Clarke, one of the world's leading contemporary stained glass artists. Collaborating with Norman Foster and Zaha Hadid, Clarke understood that for the artform to survive it must move beyond the religious to the secular. His work can be found in Pfizer's headquarters in Manhattan and Lake Sagami Country Club in Yamanashi, Japan. 'The problem is people don't realise stained glass isn't something only churches do,' Cameron said. 'We have a noble history of it.' Meanwhile, artist Alec Galloway, who has a stained glass studio in Gourock, said the GSA's 'sudden' decision was 'saddening and bewildering'. In 2023, stained glass was added to the Heritage Crafts Association's (HCA) Red List of Endangered Crafts. Galloway described the situation in Scotland as 'a Doomsday clock scenario, where we are in the final seconds.' Glasgow has the most stained glass of any UK city outside of London. In addition to church windows, there is stained glass in its villas, its tenement closes and many of its pubs. A handful of small stained glass studios, including Galloway's, offer recreational classes, but the GSA's was the last attached to an art school. Recent talents to benefit from its teaching include Aoife Hogan, who graduated from the GSA with a first after producing stained glass pieces in the studio. Galloway said the recreational classes were an asset but were mostly for 'hobbyists'. 'They are not producing the kinds of artists who could repair the damage we saw at Notre Dame in Paris,' he said. Galloway taught on Scotland's last stained glass degree course at the Edinburgh College of Art until it was scrapped more than a decade ago. At the time the institution claimed it was too expensive to keep its two furnaces running. But Galloway believes those in charge thought ceramics and stained glass were 'old and messy' and dropped them in favour of clean computer design. There are now no accredited courses in Scotland and only a handful in England. The nearest to the border is the National Glass Centre in Sunderland, which is due to close next year. However, the University of Wales is now running apprenticeship programmes in collaboration with employers. Galloway is one of several campaigners working hard to rectify the situation in Scotland. He is involved in an attempt to buy the Glebe — a B-listed 19th Century former sugar refinery building in Greenock — and turn it into a national stained glass school. Read more Dani Garavelli: Galloway is also working with filmmaker Sarah Purser to try to raise the profile of the craft. Purser, executive producer at Little White Rose films, is on a mission to turn Guy McCrone's Wax Fruit trilogy into a multi-season TV epic. The novels tell the story of the Moorhouse family who rise from humble beginnings to the heights of 19th century Glasgow society. Purser believes the series would showcase the city's heritage and so help to preserve it. As part of this, she has offered to add one of Glasgow's most renowned stained glass artists, Daniel Cottier, to the cast list. 'When Arthur and Bel Moorhouse finally make their move from the squalor of the East End to the glamorous west of the city, they hire global superstars of the architecture and stained glass world to build and design their bespoke mansion – Scots-born geniuses Alexander 'Greek" Thomson and Daniel Cottier,' she explained. 'The Moorhouse Mansion is to be one of the finest, most extravagant and cutting edge residences in the city. But Bel and Arthur's lavish spending and insatiable desire to outdo the creme de la creme will push their already precarious finances to a knife-edge and threaten to topple all that they hold dear." The new stained glass window. (Image: Gordon Terris) Richard Welsh and Keira McLean, who run RDW Glass in Dennistoun, have also been working to shore up the craft. McLean has been trying to set up a new accredited stained course at Langside College and has worked with various community groups to create stained glass windows at libraries across the city. The latest, which tells stories of resistance, including that of activist Cathy McCormack and the poll tax demos, was unveiled at the Bridge in Easterhouse on Thursday, July 24. But their efforts are not being matched by the authorities tasked with preserving our heritage. Having secured the space and the materials for her course, McLean has struggled to obtain funding to cover her fee. As for the GSA, Cameron says it has not responded to his email, though he discussed the situation with a member of its senior staff, and responses to freedom of information requests on the details of consultations it claims were carried out are so redacted as to be meaningless. 'Since I retired, I have tried to support the art school because I do love the place,' Cameron said. 'But it needs to be more careful of its history and its USP. It needs to consider what it can contribute today that other people can't.'
Scotsman
10-07-2025
- Scotsman
Here's why birds and insects are disappearing all across Scotland
Intensive farming, involving greater pesticide and fertiliser use, pollution and the resulting deterioration of farmland habitats have wreaked havoc on our wildlife but some farmers offer genuine hope for the future Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... By day, the bright purple lavender was awash with bees, the sound of their humming strong and constant in the heat of the sun. White butterflies gently floated above the fragrant flowers and swallows glided on the winds, silhouetted against the bluest of skies. By night, a thousand sparks of bright light danced and fluttered along the hedges and up into the field and along the wooded hillside. Fireflies resembling little embers of magic or fairies weaving spells between the leaves and grasses – enchanting and beautiful, but too dark to make out properly, celestial bodies producing a wondrous symphony of light. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Such was the miracle of nature, witnessed in a rarely touched garden wilderness. 'Then I returned to England,' a friend said disappointedly. She had come back from Italy after a few days break which served as a harsh reminder of the loss of biodiversity in her own garden. READ MORE: Thousands of acres of new native woods planned for Highlands community estate A murmuration of starlings near Gretna in 2016. The species is on the UK Red List following a sharp decline in the breeding population since the 1960s (Picture: Jeff J Mitchell) | Getty Images Shifting baseline syndrome It showed how declines in the natural world can become normalised and barely recognised. How quickly we forget what thriving biodiversity should look like. How we grow accustomed to the loss and give scant thought to our surroundings. It's called 'shifting baseline syndrome' and, as a result, the scale of loss becomes invisible to subsequent generations – unless we receive a powerful reminder of a flourishing ecosystem. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad I'm of a generation that remembers the multitude of insects that would cover car windscreens following a drive, the difficulty of removing them from the headlights and number plate. Not so nowadays. The stats are sobering. The latest survey has revealed that the number of insects found on vehicle number plates has plummeted by 63 per cent since 2021. This new data shows a decrease in insect splats across the UK, with the sharpest fall of 65 per cent recorded in Scotland. According to the United Nations, the rate of extinction among insects is now happening eight times faster than mammals, birds, and reptiles. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Insect populations are a vital source of food for many birds (Picture: Christopher Furlong) | Getty Images War on wildlife These declines are mirrored in our birdlife, for which one out of every six birds has been lost since 1980. That adds up to the loss of 600 million breeding birds over 40 years. Industrial farming is largely to blame. The falls in Europe are widely accepted as being driven by agricultural intensification involving greater pesticide and fertiliser use, pollution and the resulting deterioration of farmland habitats. Keeping large numbers of farmed animals crammed and confined sparked off a new and more deadly form of bird flu which, according to the United Nations has created a perfect storm, wiping out hundreds of millions of birds worldwide. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Taking wildlife as a whole, there has been a catastrophic 73 per cent decline in the average size of monitored wildlife populations in just 50 years (1970-2020), according to WWF's Living Planet Report 2024 . The report warns that parts of our planet are approaching dangerous tipping points driven by the combination of nature loss and climate change which pose grave threats to humanity. Never before has it been so vital for us all to save, not just wildlife, but humanity too. We are all connected. Thankfully, investments are being made in nature-based solutions which give reason great for hope. Bringing nature back In accord with the need to transform our food systems and transition to nature-friendly, sustainable practices, Lynbreck Croft in the Cairngorms National Park is an award winning, multi-enterprise, food-producing business that is firmly rooted in farming with nature and high animal welfare principles. Owners Lynn Cassells and Sandra Baer now produce a diverse range of food from eggs and pork to beef and honey. Recognising that land and animals are our most valuable and essential assets, Lynn and Sandra use regenerative grazing principles, prioritising soil health with a goal to increase biodiversity. They have planted 30,000 native trees and choose animals that are suited to the local climate and natural forage. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Another such example can be found on the east coast of Suffolk, where a family business has established the internationally successful Dingley Dell Pork brand. Animal welfare, taste and sustainability remain the philosophical pillars and foundations of their farm. Rather than simply planting grass to stabilise soil, they saw an opportunity to create pollinator-rich habitats that would not only support farming but would also enhance biodiversity. They have fulfilled their ambition to bring back a million bees by planting 338,000 square metres (about 83 football pitches) of flowers including phacelia and other nectar mixes in blocks around the farm. A single square metre can contain ten to 12 bumblebees. Hope is growing The Wiston Estate in West Sussex shows what long-term biodiversity investment can look like on the ground. With a belief in creating a place where people, nature and enterprise can coexist and flourish, the estate has recently appointed its first full-time ecologist, Penny Green, formerly of the famous Knepp wildlife conservation and rewilding project. Her appointment reflects a growing shift in how forward-thinking estates are putting biodiversity at the centre of strategy. All of which shows us that hope is not only possible but growing. From family farms to rewilding estates and regenerative crofting, people are showing that a different path is not only necessary but achievable. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad
BBC News
05-07-2025
- BBC News
Paignton Zoo welcomes pair of nocturnal monkeys
A zoo in Devon has welcomed two rare breed nocturnal Zoo said the pair of grey-handed night monkeys, Diego, 11, and Baroo, 8, arrived from a zoo in Wales. The monkeys will share their new home with Myrtle the armadillo and gradually transition to a nocturnal schedule, said the said early mornings and late afternoons would offer the best chance of seeing them active. "We're absolutely delighted to welcome Diego and Baroo to our zoo family," said Nadia Gould, mammals team leader."Grey-handed night monkeys are fascinating creatures that most people never get the chance to see."She added: "Their nocturnal nature and vulnerable conservation status make them particularly special, and we're proud to play a role in their conservation through the European Endangered Species Programme."The zoo said the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) classified the species as are native to the forests of Colombia and Venezuela, but wild populations have declined due to habitat loss.
