Now that our Platinum Project has been submitted to SOS-UK’s Hedgehog Friendly Campus we thought we would reflect on this past year and create a roundup of all the hedgehog related events and activities we have been up to! Throughout this round up we have asked members of the Sustainability Team what their favourite hedgehog activity has been.
But firstly, a highlight for the team was having a hedgehog sighting on campus during Hedgehog Awareness Week!
The hedgehog was spotted on David Lewis Playing Fields by Andrew Clark from the School of Science, Engineering and Environment.
Hedgehog Awareness Week:
Our hedgehog awareness week ran from 5th-11th May and involved the team organising 4 days of events across campus. To read a full roundup of what we got up to check out our blog post here.
We asked Elena, the Sustainability Campaigns Intern what her favourite part of Hedgehog Awareness Week was:
“I found the hedgehog workshop that Bethany from SOS-UK Hog Friendly to be really informative. The session provided lots of information about hedgehog’s diets and habitats, which ended up being useful for doing primary school presentations. I found it really interesting to learn that hedgehogs can walk up to 2km at night!”
Litter Picks
One of the key activities that ran throughout the year was our litter picks. Since September we have facilitated a total of 16 litter picks with 88 volunteers and managed to collect over 100 bags of litter from our campuses and local area. Our litter picks will continue to go ahead as maintaining a safe environment for all biodiversity- not just hedgehogs is extremely important.
Megan our Graduate Sustainability Communications and Engagement Officer played a key role in planning and facilitating our litter picks, and this is what she had to say about them:
“I have really enjoyed working alongside the Salford Ranger Team, staff, students and other volunteers in ensuring litter is removed from the local environment. It is so important to remove plastic and other waste from Peel Park and the surrounding vicinity, not only for it to be cleaner but to also remove hazards for hedgehogs and other wildlife.”
Hedgehog Road Signs
One of the tangible changes that our project made to campus was installing Hedgehog Hazard Signs on the posts on university owned roads. From completing our hedgehog hazard audit, roads and traffic were identified as one of our campus’ major threats to hedgehogs. It is hoped that installing these signs will make road users aware that hedgehogs and other small mammals are nearby, and they should drive cautiously.
There are currently two hedgehog hazard signs on campus, let us know if you see one!
Primary School Presentations:
As part of our Platinum plan project, the Sustainability Team aimed to engage with one Greater Manchester Primary School. We ultimately ended up presenting to three primary schools, and a variety of year groups.
Eleanor, our Sustainability Engagement Officer said what she enjoyed most about presenting to Primary schools:
“I loved the kids’ enthusiasm and eagerness to help increase hedgehog numbers”
Our presentations aimed to inform children about hedgehog habitats, diets, and lifestyles, by engaging with them in a fun and interactive way. After the presentations we made hedgehog tunnels, which contained food, ink, and paper. The hope was that the food would entice hedgehogs to walk through, stepping through the ink in the process and leaving a footprint trail. School children could the collect the paper and identify what small mammal had been through the tunnel. Hedgehog footprints can best be identified by looking for human-like prints with 5 pads.
The sessions were successful and resulted in one primary school getting clear prints which even showed hedgehog spines!
Thank you to everyone who took part in any of our hedgehog related activities over the past year, we have really enjoyed the support and feel proud that we have managed to make a tangible changes to our campus, which we hope will benefit hedgehogs!
Written by Elena Fox