Hedgehog Week

It’s Hedgehog Week here in Sweden. The number of hedgehogs is almost down to half of what it was 12 years ago. To get a clearer picture of where they live and where they don’t, WWF launched the Hedgehog Week project back in 2024. Anyone can report a sighting, or the lack of one, and the data goes to a species database for researchers to work with. The plan is to keep running it every year for at least five years, so the same week each year gives more reliable numbers over time. Some reasons hedgehogs struggle Roads. Traffic kills up to a third of hedgehogs each year and splits up their habitat. Intensive farming. Monoculture fields and pesticides leave little food or shelter. Modern gardens. Tidy gardens mean nowhere to nest or hibernate, plus hazards like robotic lawnmowers and netting. In short: we humans are to blame. Our never-ending hunt for speed and simplicity, money and comfort. Making lives easier for ourselves, and a lot harder for others. It makes me sad to realize that…