Cute Baby Hedgehog

[Chevvyf1]

Re: Cute Baby Hedgehog

Ahhh so good to hear this love the images of and esp. Charlie

[Melaka]

Re: Cute Baby Hedgehog

Hi,
I'm not so sure your reason for a lack of Hedgehogs in the area is valid.

I don't think Badgers are the cause of diminishing species. It's more to do with intensive farming, i.e. Pesticides, Fungicides etc. not to mention loss of habitat through spreading urbanisation. There aren't any badgers in this area but there is still a dearth of ground nesting birds on farmland. Gardeners using less pesticides in their gardens, would go a long way to helping the Bee population survive.
Regarding TB being spread by Badgers, which was the reason for the cull. Much doubt about them being the sole carrier is now under discussion. I for one would prefer livestock to be vaccinated rather than gassing or shooting Badgers.

Sailor

Farming and habitat management are important factors in the survival of any species in our managed environment.

Badgers are not the sole cause of diminshing species but they are a major factor with some species. Their diet is omnivorous and they're opportunistic, eating anything that strikes their fancy. They're the only predator that is capable of unrolling and eating a hedgehog and likewise nothing much else can tackle a wild bee nest. Badgers are the principle cause of predation in both species.

Ground nesting birds have many predators including, once the chicks have hatched, iconic birds such as Red Kites which can clear a whole brood in a few hours. Of the mammalian predators the badger has been shown to be very significant. There are now reckoned to be more badgers in the UK than foxes and they're found in almost every 10km square of the country. I'd be surprised if there are none near you, albeit not many in Liverpool itself. Badgers tend to get the eggs whereas more nimble predators such as the fox get the sitting bird as well.

There are no truly wild spaces left in this country. Everything has been touched by the hand of man. There is no justification in conservation terms, nor has there ever been, for the level of protection now given to the badger. If the badger had not been given a silly level of protection we probably wouldn't have the TB situation we have now as farmers would have been able to keep the badger population to a sensible level.

It's silly to talk of vaccinating a wild species of which there is already an overpopulation. Moreover it's an animal that most never see because it is nocturnal. The majority of people who criticise the cull will never have seen one in the wild. It's not good for badgers to suffer from TB (they're not the only wild animal that gets it either) and it's not good for the cattle, all of which have to be slaughtered. That's bad for animal welfare and bad for farming.

I know the badger looks cute and I enjoy photographing them (in captivity) but we need realism not sentimentality in wildlife management.

[Sailor]

Re: Cute Baby Hedgehog

The baby Hedgehog was safely delivered to the Wirral care centre and I am to get him back in the spring. If I don't pick him up, like a salmon, he might try and make his way home to his place of birth.
His temporary home is close to Perch Rock lighthouse, I should have lent him a camera.
Sailor