Further to the discussion at the Balsall Heath Jungle AGM on Saturday, why don't we try to establish a hedgehog colony in Balsall Heath?

What we would need is:

  1. green space with a supply of slugs and other invertebrates, and preferably a safe pond, the further from main roads the better
2. shelter / nesting space - see the following site for suggestions for hedgehog box design including low-cost models

http://www.software-technics.com/bhps/Leaflets/HedgehogHomes.html

3. someone at each site who's prepared to make sure they have fresh water if there isn't a pond, and supplement their autumn (pre-hibernation) diet by putting out food

4. hedgehogs!

Tindal School, Jakeman Nursery and Balsall Heath Church Centre would all be obvious sites. Other possible sites could be St Paul's Trust. Jungle members with suitable gardens could also provide a home.

Hedgehogs could be acquired from http://www.kpmd.co.uk/scripts/Hedgehog.asp - this is a project that rescues them from culling in the Western Isles.

More info on hedgehogs can be found at http://pages.123-reg.co.uk/ron36-67716/ and http://www.software-technics.com/bhps/

All this shouldn't really cost very much in terms of money, at most some materials for building hedgehog homes, and I'm sure someone would fund it.

I don't mind putting a bit of work into this if people are interested.

Thoughts?

Eurasian hedgehogs can travel up to 3km in a night. I am  a little bit worried about all the roads in the area. They generally travel less than this, but 1km is typical.