Ilfracombe postings

An exciting set of initiatives were recently promoted during the National History Consortium’s “Citizen Science Showcase!”. I will share more in later blogs, today I am promoting hedgehog spotting.

I watched the online presentation on this by Dr Henrietta Pringle, the coordinator of the National Hedgehog Monitoring Program. This presentation pointed us to the numerous resources available and explained how you could help the program by becoming a “spotter” Becoming a spotter just requires registering online and then viewing shots from nature cameras set up around the country including in Devon. You identify the wildlife you see on the captured images, to help catalogue what wildlife is caught on film – with a special focus on spotting hedgehogs!

The National Hedgehog Monitoring Programme, coordinated by the People’s Trust for Endangered Species, provides informative support sites to help you learn what wildlife is out there, to get you started. Thus, in addition to helping the valuable work wildlife groups do, you are learning more about the natural world around you. It is an easy and really fulfilling way to appreciate the wildlife we live with, even if we don’t have the good luck to see them in the wild often.

A great way to get started is to view the taped webinar session that I attended – it is available now on YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60ZD2Y-Bddg&list=PLm-SGeLNXMRGn95HWmABjXpHqOfVWa6jl&index=2

You can also learn all about how to sign up and participate in viewing and ‘spotting’ (categorizing) camera records by going to the National Hedgehog Monitoring Programme site: https://ptes.org/campaigns/hedgehogs/nhmp/ 

The cameras are located in different spots across the country, and the images are hosted on the site mammalweb.org.  There are two hubs in Devon you can spot for if you want to stay local, or help out those maintaining camera hubs in other parts Britain. (Link to the hub sites : https://www.mammalweb.org/en/?view=projecthome&option=com_biodiv&project_id=324 

You can learn more about what the People’s Trust for Endangered Species are doing on their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ptes.org 

If you are interested in learning more about these adorable creatures, and how to create safer environments to protect hedgehogs, you can find lots of useful information on the site Hedgehog Street: www.hedgehogstreet.org.   

If you are fortunate enough to spot a hedgehog in your garden, your neighborhood, or on a walk, you can report that sighting on the national ‘Big Hedgehog Map’ : https://bighedgehogmap.org/! 

Have fun!