Hedgehog Awareness Week, 5th-11th May
It’s #hedgehogweek! Find out how we are supporting hedgehogs in The Regent’s Park.
Dedicated volunteers help us to monitor the Regent’s Park hedgehog population every May and September. Find out what it’s like to be a hedgehog hero, and maybe you could help us with our future surveys.
Emma Pooley
I started volunteering as a Hedgehog Hero in May 2016 and have helped at every survey since. Every May and September I spend a few Friday nights wandering round Regent's Park looking for hedgehogs into the early hours. I've been lucky enough to be asked to be a volunteer Supervisor, so I lead a small group of other volunteers as we search our allocated zone within the park. We use torches and thermal imagery cameras to try and find the hedgehogs, then take important measurements, before attaching special number tags to the spines and then releasing them again.
It's a wonderful experience being able to get up close to the hedgehogs and contributing to the research of a nationally declining species. I love coming back to volunteer every year. You get to catch up with old friends, make new ones and do something important for science. Everyone I've met, staff and volunteers, have been so friendly and lovely - you end up feeling like you're part of an important hedgehog community!
Stephanie McGibbon
This will be my fifth year helping with the hedgehog surveys in Regent’s Park. I feel part of a special community – people from all walks of life who care for the environment and everything within it. The surveys are very well organised, fun and rewarding. Convening in Hedgehog HQ, I look forward to seeing lots of familiar faces as well as new volunteers. Everyone is friendly, united in their desire to learn and do more for these wonderful creatures.
In my day job I’m an office based environmental consultant and can find myself remote from the environmental assessments I lead. Participating in the hedgehog survey reminds me of the importance of achieving good design in developments and our collective responsibility to take care of the environment. This year I will be giving a talk to my colleagues about my role as a Hedgehog Hero during Hedgehog Awareness Week. I’m happy to report that friends and family know about hedgehogs and take great delight when they encounter one.
I’m a Hedgehog Hero because years from now I don’t want to look back and wish I’d done more.
If you’d like to become a Hedgehog Hero please contact the Volunteer Team at volunteering@royalparks.org.uk