That's a great question. Although badgers have sometimes been blamed for hedgehog decline in the past, research has indicated that this isn't the case and highlights that hedgehogs and badgers have coexisted together for 1000s of years and the hedgehog decline is relatively recent, and has also been occurring in places where there aren't badgers. Hedgehogs and badgers do eat similar food, so in places where there has been habitat loss then the two species may compete more for food. Badgers eating hedgehogs is rare but may occur when there is high badger density and a scarcity of food such as during summer droughts. However, research has indicated that the biggest threat to hedgehogs is the loss of habitats due to agricultural intensification, reduction in hedgerows, and the decline in the number of insects. Here's the link to a summary of the research findings: www.badgertrust.org.uk/post/badgers-and-hedgehogs-separating-fact-from-fiction-in-british-native-wildlife. And for some more detail on the status of hedgehog numbers here's www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk/new-state-of-britains-hedgehog-report-issued-today/.
Lived in west Somerset for years, hedgehogs were rare, three years into the cull they started to appear dead on roads, a significant increase to say the least, seven years ago moved to the Highlands no badgers our side of a main river, since then they crossed the river through general expansion, over population and no control, I won't say that the urchins are gone but I've seen a few inside out skins, I like badgers and think all ancient deciduous woodland could and should accommodate a large or a few smaller setts, however with no main predators besides the motor car, these versatile destructive greedy creatures need regulation.
Unfortunately they are not universally popular. The sett in our woods was culled. Pretty annoying. Dairy herd in surrounding fields. The farmer remains wary about them returning.
I'm really sorry to hear this. If badgers do return to your woods see if your local badger trust has a vaccination programme which may reassure the farmer that culling isn't necessary. The Government has also just announced a new TB eradication strategy to end the badger cull (although the ban isn't immediately in place) and reduce the incidence of bovine TB in cattle which will include more research into the disease and the development of a cattle vaccine. So hopefully this disease will be better controlled in the near future for both livestock and wildlife. Here's the link to the Government announcement: www.gov.uk/government/news/government-to-end-badger-cull-with-new-tb-eradication-strategy
Is there a connection between a natural absence of hedgehogs and a population of badgers in a local area .?
That's a great question. Although badgers have sometimes been blamed for hedgehog decline in the past, research has indicated that this isn't the case and highlights that hedgehogs and badgers have coexisted together for 1000s of years and the hedgehog decline is relatively recent, and has also been occurring in places where there aren't badgers.
Hedgehogs and badgers do eat similar food, so in places where there has been habitat loss then the two species may compete more for food. Badgers eating hedgehogs is rare but may occur when there is high badger density and a scarcity of food such as during summer droughts. However, research has indicated that the biggest threat to hedgehogs is the loss of habitats due to agricultural intensification, reduction in hedgerows, and the decline in the number of insects.
Here's the link to a summary of the research findings: www.badgertrust.org.uk/post/badgers-and-hedgehogs-separating-fact-from-fiction-in-british-native-wildlife.
And for some more detail on the status of hedgehog numbers here's www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk/new-state-of-britains-hedgehog-report-issued-today/.
Lived in west Somerset for years, hedgehogs were rare, three years into the cull they started to appear dead on roads, a significant increase to say the least, seven years ago moved to the Highlands no badgers our side of a main river, since then they crossed the river through general expansion, over population and no control, I won't say that the urchins are gone but I've seen a few inside out skins, I like badgers and think all ancient deciduous woodland could and should accommodate a large or a few smaller setts, however with no main predators besides the motor car, these versatile destructive greedy creatures need regulation.
Unfortunately they are not universally popular. The sett in our woods was culled. Pretty annoying. Dairy herd in surrounding fields. The farmer remains wary about them returning.
I'm really sorry to hear this. If badgers do return to your woods see if your local badger trust has a vaccination programme which may reassure the farmer that culling isn't necessary.
The Government has also just announced a new TB eradication strategy to end the badger cull (although the ban isn't immediately in place) and reduce the incidence of bovine TB in cattle which will include more research into the disease and the development of a cattle vaccine. So hopefully this disease will be better controlled in the near future for both livestock and wildlife.
Here's the link to the Government announcement: www.gov.uk/government/news/government-to-end-badger-cull-with-new-tb-eradication-strategy
Hi