18 Oct 2019
Loughborough joins other universities in becoming a hedgehog-friendly campus
Led by the Gardens team, Loughborough is striving to become a hedgehog-friendly campus by signing up to an initiative set by the British Hedgehog Preservation Society.
A small steering group was formed in June with a mixture of staff and students from across the University, who are working together to help prevent the continuing decline of the species by taking not only practical measures but educating others and raising awareness too.
The team are currently working towards achieving the Bronze Award, which requires completion of a series of tasks set by the Society to become a Hedgehog Friendly Campus.
This includes promoting the campaign, undertaking workshops, holding fundraising events, distributing flyers and brainstorming creative ideas to make others aware of what they can do to help hedgehogs both on campus and in their gardens.
The team has already ticked off most of their goals, by running staff and student litter picks (with over 23kg collected in just 30 minutes!), holding charity quiz nights, and working closely with staff members who may come across a hedgehog (e.g. those who use garden equipment) so they know what to do if it is injured or harmed.
Last month, the team found a hoglet on campus who is currently being fostered by a member of the steering group. This is because she was severely underweight and unlikely to hibernate during the winter, meaning her chances of survival were slim. Once she is back to a healthy weight, she will be ‘re-wilded’ and then released.
Once the team have achieved the bronze award, they will progress onto gathering evidence and undertaking initiatives for the silver award.
The Gardens team have also recently worked closely with Loughborough Architecture students.
As part of an external competition they took part in, the second-year students were briefed to design and build prototype animal houses, two of which were designed for hedgehogs.
The students won the competition, and the next stage is to actually place the different animal shelters across the University’s 433-acre campus to support wildlife.
Academic lead Dr Robert Schmidt III commented: “This is a great victory story for our students, but it’s also a great example of our students engaging with the campus ecosystem and having an impact.”
For more information about the Hedgehog Friendly campus project, contact gardens@lboro.ac.uk or visit the Grounds and Gardens Facebook page.
Images provided by the University’s Gardens Team