Hedgehogs Are Heading for Britain's Banknotes, So Check Your Bonfire Before 5th November
Hedgehogs start hibernating this month and an unlit bonfire looks like the perfect nest. Here is how to keep them safe on Bonfire Night and through the winter.
Photo: monicore / Pexels
On 8th October, the Bank of England chose the European hedgehog as one of four animals for its next series of banknotes, alongside the barn owl, the Atlantic puffin and the buff-tailed bumblebee. Nearly half a million people took part in the public vote. The animal heading for your wallet is struggling in the wild. Hedgehogs are listed as vulnerable to extinction in Britain, and rural populations have fallen by between a third and three quarters since 2000.
Bonfire Night falls on Thursday 5th November, in the same weeks that hedgehogs look for a place to sleep until spring. A heap of dry branches and leaves is exactly the shelter they look for, and a hibernating hedgehog curled at the base of a pile has almost no chance of escaping once the fire is lit.
Five steps before you strike a match
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