Shaftesbury Hedgehog Group
Shaftesbury has been a Hedgehog Friendly Town since 2021 - one of over 30 towns and villages that have achieved this status in Dorset as part of the Dorset Mammal Group project to reverse the decline of hedgehog populations in Dorset.
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Members of Planet Shaftesbury and other local groups work to help support our community to do as much as we can to make Shaftesbury into a hedgehog friendly habitat. We also help rescue and rehabilitate hedgehogs in need.
We're now looking for someone to help co-ordinate this group and various activities, so if you are passionate about hedgehogs please get in touch. planetshaftesbury@gmail.com
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Help your local hedgehogs
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The Shaftesbury and Area hedgehog group have recently launched two new initiatives:
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Hedgehog rescue team
We have a great group of hedgehog rescuers, recently trained, and linked to local vets to help with any injured hedgehogs that are found locally and need rehabilitation before they are released back into the wild.
If you find an injured hedgehog, take it to your local vet and they will get in touch with us. For more information please email (PS email address)
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Report sightings
We are starting to collect data about hedgehog sightings in the SP7 area. This is really important as there is a paucity of data on hedgehogs, and without data we struggle to make the case for their increased protection, or respond locally to their conservation. If you see a hedgehog, please provide the following information (as much as you can) to hoglogSP7@outlook.com: date of sighting; location: street name, postcode, What3Words; sighting type: alive, dead (roadkill/ other), adult or hoglet, droppings. All data is fed into regional and national data bases.
It’s also Hedgehog Awareness Week 3- 9th May. This encourages creating "hedgehog-friendly" habitats, such as installing wildlife highways, providing food/water, and checking for them before gardening to combat rapid population decline. The 2026 campaign is inviting people to take a pledge to take action to support hedgehogs. Please do take a look: Take the Hedgehog Pledge this Hedgehog Awareness Week - The British Hedgehog Preservation Society
Useful links
Dorset Mammal Group hedgehog section website - https://dorsetmammalgroup.wordpress.com/hedgehogs-2/
What to feed and what not to feed hedgehogs - https://www.green-feathers.co.uk/blogs/news/what-should-you-feed-hedgehogs
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Things to do in your garden - link to Wild about gardens leaflet
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Hedgehog Street website: How to help hedgehogs - https://www.hedgehogstreet.org/help-hedgehogs/
People’s Trust For Endangered Species website - https://ptes.org/campaigns/hedgehogs/
Sign a petition to make Hedgehog Highways a requirement for new developments:
https://www.change.org/p/help-save-britain-s-hedgehogs-with-hedgehog-highways
