Skip to main content

Hedgehog Footprint Tunnel Survey- Workshop

On 7th June we held a Hedgehog footprint survey tunnel workshop given by Jo at the University of Sheffield and funded by the British Hedgehog Preservation Society. This would help us determine if and where there are hedgehogs on our campus. We had a range of University students, staff as well as members of the local community join us for the session.


Jo gave an informative presentation on the Hedgehog Friendly Campus Campaign, about hedgehogs in the UK as well as how to build and conduct our tracking survey.



The tunnels have a removable tracking plate that contains two ‘ink’ strips, pot for food (we used dry cat biscuits) and two sheets of paper to record the footprints. We built 10 tunnels to distribute at least 100m away from each other in order to make our finding scientifically significant. If ten baited tunnels are set in up to 1km2 for 5 consecutive nights and no hedgehog footprints are detected, you can be 95% sure hedgehog are absent from the area. The survey required each member to change the paper and food everyday, as well as checking for any hoggy footprints.



During the first survey we conducted, we found one hedgehog to be resident near the Physics building. We named him Sonic! 


During our second survey, we placed the tunnels in different areas around campus to the first survey. We found another resident hedgehog by the Medical School, which came to the tunnel placed in the  'Overbury' contractor's compound. We named her Shelley, after the Overbury logo which is a shell!


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Go Green Week

Monday 8th February - Friday 12th February 2021 Here at the University of Birmingham it’s Go Green Week, where we'll be focusing on how we can be greener, more sustainable and work together to protect our environment. We’re in the middle of a climate emergency, so action needs to be taken now to drive change for future generations. So this week The Guild have a range of events, activities and resources focused on doing just that. The Hedgehog Friendly Campus campaign aims to make campus and the local area a place where hedgehogs and other wildlife can thrive. Unfortunately, our prickly friends are undergoing a concerning decline and numbers in urban areas have declined by 30% since 2000. There is no single cause to why hedgehog numbers are declining, but everyone can make a difference in their gardens and green spaces by taking a few simple actions. From litter picking, to creating a hedgehog highway there are lots of ways you can help, and the Hedgehog Friendly Campus team have cr...
Post a Comment
Read more

Lockdown Litter Pick Challenge

T he University of Birmingham is taking part in the Hog-Friendly lockdown litter pick challenge! From 2nd November until 18th December 2020, the Hedgehog Friendly Campus campaign are holding a UK-wide competition to find out which university can collect the most litter in and around the local community.  The winning university receives a free Hedgehog House complete with a bag of hedgehog food for their campus! All participants (whether from the winning team or not) will also receive a digital certificate from us in recognition of their efforts. Why is litter bad for hedgehogs? The RSPCA receives over 5000 calls a year regarding litter  That’s an average of roughly 14 calls every day!   Everyday objects that seem perfectly safe, can sadly become hazardous when found accidentally by animals. By disposing our rubbish safely instead of littering, we are making choices that could save many lives . Hedgehogs are covered in thousands of spines which makes them vulnerable to bec...
Post a Comment
Read more

How to upcycle a plastic bottle into a hedgehog planter

Recycle and grow at the same time with this cress hedgehog! Tools: A small plastic drinking bottle Scissors (ADULT SUPERVISION) Sellotape Googly eyes, buttons or you could use a sharpie pen Kitchen paper or soil/compost if you have any S eeds- cress is easy and quick to grow Water Step 1: ·         Lay the plastic bottle on its side and remove label        Step 2:     Cut out the top side of it. Keep the plastic near the front of the bottle opening intact.     Step 3:     Tape over the edges with sellotape to make smooth       Step 4: ·     Apply PVA glue to neck of the bottle and wrap wound string to make the head. If you don't have any string, you could paint or colour in. Leave to dry. Step 5: ·     Stick some googly eyes on near the bottle opening. You could use buttons or draw on the he...
Post a Comment
Read more