Welcome To WIVHOGS!

Welcome to WIVHOGS!

This is the blog for WIVHOGS, a group established in Summer 2018.  I started WIVHOGS with specific aims in mind:


Aims of WIVHOGS - Five Key Aims:

1)      Promote ways in which to help hedgehogs, practically, in your garden and neighbourhood

2)      Seasonal support; specific things to do depending on the time of year (ie. Hibernation help, bonfire safety, etc)

3)      Connectivity – importance of increasing access to safe, suitable habitat within Wivenhoe

4)      Mapping population and density in Wivenhoe (ongoing; medium to longer term aim)

5)      Increasing protection for hedgehogs within the area (road safety in particular; speed limit awareness; emergency help for hedgehogs)

The first meeting, on Wednesday 15th August, was well attended by 16 people in the Black Buoy in Wivenhoe, and in the intervening time the WIVHOGS group on Facebook now stands at over 60 members.  This fantastic interest means that there is a lot of good will and many people keen to help this adorable and endangered animal in Wivenhoe.  I am now keen, with this support, to make Wivenhoe one of the most hedgehog-friendly towns in Britain.  
There will be regular meetings during the months when hedgehogs are active (approx. April-November) with different foci depending on the needs of hedgehogs at specific times of year.  I know already that there are many people doing individual things to support hedgehogs in their immediate area of Wivenhoe, and hope that the group will promote connectivity, to increase hedgehog access to safe habitat.  
Another key project I am keen to expand is a log and map of hedgehog sightings, to build up a more detailed picture of where Wivenhoe's hedgehogs are, where they face the biggest threats (particular roads where fatalities are a big problem, for example) and where we can focus our efforts to support numbers and potentially reintroduce any hedgehogs which are rehabilitated.  To this end, this blog and the email address wivhogs@gmail.com are the focal point for reporting sightings, with a pro forma detailing the essential information required.  If you have sightings of hedgehogs - dead or alive - in Wivenhoe, this is the place to record this information.  I intend to work with the Essex Wildlife Trust and local hedgehog rescues to use this information effectively.  
Please do join the group on Facebook - WIVHOGS - for the community sharing of information, individual sightings, advice and updates on events.  And please do submit any information of sightings via this site/the email address, using the pro forma outline detailed in the following post.
Thank you!

Comments

Popular Posts