The most appealing smoggy hogs
Plus updates on mines, electric cows and a new campaign to stop Drax burning trees
Good morning! I’m Sarah Hartley and this is The Northern Eco weekly update and we’re starting today with Adele’s article on everyone’s favourite wild mammal - hedgehogs. As you’ve received this newsletter then either you subscribed, or someone forwarded it to you. If the latter, then you can click on this handy little button below.
Urgent appeal for hedgehog ‘forever homes’
A hedgehog rescue centre in Teesside has issued an urgent appeal, to find suitable release gardens for their rescued and rehabilitated hedgehogs.
Smoggy Hog’s Hedgehog Rescue Centre is based in Middlesborough and comes to the aid of ill and injured hedgehogs throughout the Teesside area.
So far this year, almost 200 hogs, including babies, have been taken into their care. Once the hogs are well enough to be freed back into the wild, Smoggy Hogs entrust members of the public, to provide them with their safe, ‘forever home’.
Life is tough for these little, spiky mammals. Gardens are paved over; roads are built, and hedge rows, torn down. The loss of natural habitats is out of control. As a result, the hedgehog population has plummeted.
In just 20 years, hedgehog numbers have dropped by between 30-75% in rural areas, and while urban hedgehogs are faring better, they too have seen dramatic declines in recent decades. Source: People’s Trust For Endangered Species (PTES).
Rescue centres are on the lookout for more volunteers to rehome hedgehogs. Many of which have been brought back from the brink of death.
Claire Dixon, a volunteer at Smoggy Hogs, said:
“We are appealing to the public to come forward and offer their gardens to rehabilitated hedgehogs.
“Gardens which are away from busy roads, are free from poisons and pesticides, where the hogs will be free to roam during the night.
“A hedgehog home, and supplemental feeding will be required. We always support our volunteers throughout the entire process.”
There are many ways people can attract hedgehogs to their gardens and take care of them when they visit. Providing suitable, safe, hedgehog specific houses. Creating gaps in gates and fences for them to pass through and feeding them the correct food.
Hedgehog rescue services across the country are educating people about feeding their garden hedgehogs, safely.
Jac Davison, a rescue centre volunteer, said: “We know that people are trying to help hogs, when they feed them in their garden.
“However, a lot of the branded ‘hedgehog food’ is a death trap and wildlife food is not regulated”.
Certain foods can cause sickness and even death, to our little garden friends. As such, the following foods must not be given:
Mealworms (causes a calcium deficiency, resulting in fractures).
Nuts
Oats
Seeds
Milk
Bread
Human food
Eggs
Bird food
This is not an exhaustive list. More information can be found on local hedgehog rescue service social channels, and The Hedgehog Preservation Society website.
Hedgehogs need support, especially in the run up to hibernation. Natural food sources are scarce now, and they need to build up their reserves for the long winter, ahead.
The best way to help, is to feed cat or dog food. Hedgehogs have small mouths, so dry kitten and puppy kibble is best.
Larger pieces of food can get stuck in their mouths and cause problems which lead to infection. Always leave a shallow dish of fresh water, especially when feeding dry food.
Please remember, if you see a hedgehog out during the day, it probably needs medical attention. Carefully pop it into a high sided box, with a towel for warmth and a shallow dish of water.
Call your local rescue centre for further help, immediately. Not the next day.
Housing the hogs
Hedgehog houses are widely available to buy online. Sadly, many of these mass-produced items are not only unfit for purpose, but also, potentially deadly.
If you provide a house in your garden, it should be built to specific guidelines. Ideal houses are predator proof, with a lockable lid. Houses made with love, to exacting standards, can be found for sale by various companies on the internet. Houses created by Riverside Woodcraft are available online, and are a sight to behold. Beautifully crafted, incredibly well thought out and ideal for a family of hogs.
Igloo style houses, made with rattan, are not advised.
Celia Gibb, from the Hedgehog Preservation Society said:
“These houses have been on sale in various places for some time. I personally wouldn’t buy one of these houses. I don’t think they are large enough. I worry about entrapment in wire or mesh, and I don’t think the design is good in terms of shape and nesting area”.
As winter approaches, consideration for our endangered hedgehogs is very important. Please be aware of potential dangers. Support them with food and water, if you can. If you make your garden a haven for wildlife, you may even be rewarded with spring babies.
Smoggy Hog’s Hedgehog Rescue Centre is on Facebook via that link or the website and can also be contacted via Smoggyhogs@yahoo.com 07871 345309 or 07791 099896.
The three most clicked links from last week were:
The poll on what you thought of the new water legislation? which shows that 50% thought it a welcome step in the right direction
First samples taken from the River Ure to test for pollution
River pollution news
💦 Well, this article stopped me in my tracks:
“As a freshwater ecologist, I know there is more nuance to the story than you may have been led to believe. From my perspective, there is some good news when it comes to our rivers. I would even say that some rivers in England are in the best state they have been in for hundreds of years.”
Michelle Jackson, associate professor of freshwater/marine ecology at the University of Oxford writes more at The Guardian. wdyt?
💦 A River Esk project which aims to reconnect communities to nature and increase awareness of climate change has been awarded £1.1 million from The National Lottery Community Fund, reports Karen Darley of The York Press.
💦 Jessica McKeown from The Stray Ferret reports that volunteers will be testing Oak Beck this week to determine how well the watercourse has recovered from pollution two years ago. Oak Beck, which flows into the River Nidd, is classed as a major river by the Environment Agency and flows across northern Harrogate.
💦 Don’t forget, Cleaning up our Rivers, Lakes & Seas – The Answers is taking place on Sunday, 22 September from 12:30 - 4:30pm at Christchurch, Ilkley.
In other news
🪵 A sixth form student has launched a petition calling on the government to stop the burning of wood pellets at North Yorkshire’s Drax power station. Elise Neish has launched a website campaign, convened a network of schools to take action and launched this petition on Change.Org. She hopes to gather enough signatures for a debate in parliament.
⛏️ The decision to grant planning permission for a controversial coal mine in Cumbria has been quashed by the High Court in a major victory for campaigners, writes Catherine Early of The Ecologist. The judgment follows legal challenges by Friends of the Earth (FoE) and South Lakes Action on Climate Change (SLACC) to a decision made in December 2022 to grant planning permission by Michael Gove, the then secretary of state for levelling up, housing and communities.
🌳 Detailed plans for the multi million pound transformation of Hamsterley Forest in County Durham revealed at Auckland Tower have received a mixed response reports Kayleigh Fraser of the D&S.
🐄 A college has installed a farm-scale anaerobic digester in a project dubbed The Electric Cow, reports Will Abbott at the York Press. The system at Askham Bryan College is designed to convert organic waste - specifically slurry, a mixture of water and manure - from the college's dairy herd into renewable energy.
🪶 An alarming update from the Raptor Persecution blog reveals that “Natural England has published its latest update (Aug 2024) on the fates of the satellite-tracked hen harriers it has tagged and subsequently been following, which reveals that eight more have either been found dead (and are listed as ‘awaiting post mortem’) or have gone ‘missing’ in suspicious circumstances.” The Yorkshire Dales and Northumberland are once again at the heart of those reports.
If, like Adele, you’d like to contribute an article for The Northern Eco, we’d love to hear from you! More information on that here.
We’ll be back on Tuesday with the monthly reading recommendations from Claire and Alan at The Wonky Tree.
NEW! Look out next week for our very first newsletter about green businesses in the region. Paid subscribers will be the first to receive that so please do sign up.
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