HEDGEHOGS IN WILTSHIRE, A SURVEY, 1999-2000 



65 



Marion Browne received her reports from over 400 

 observers in the ten-year period of her survey so 

 the apparent decline from 1107 RTAs in ten years 

 to 1 14 in the two years of the recent survey may or 

 may not be significant. There is a widespread 

 subjective impression that there are now fewer 

 hedgehog corpses on the roads so the difference, 

 approximately a halving, may be near to reality. 



There are almost certainly some real local 

 differences. One of these concerns the A4 from 

 Chippenham to Marlborough and the villages of 

 the Kennet valley west of Marlborough. There is a 

 conspicuous blank in the present survey compared 

 with the previous one and the likelihood that this is 

 real is supported by the detailed observations of 

 Dr. Jack Oliver at Lockeridge (see Conflict Zones, 

 4) 



Similarly there is an apparent and probably real 

 difference at Warminster (ca.ST8845) and in 

 adjacent parts of the Wylye valley where again the 

 existence of a badger-hedgehog conflict zone is 

 confirmed by Jane Harington at Upton Lovell (see 

 Conflict Zones, 3) and by the evidence of the 

 Warminster Gardening Club - 'no hedgehogs seen 

 by anyone for 2-3 years'. 



The conspicuous difference around 

 Chippenham and to the west, on the other hand, is 



Road Casualties * Live records , Non-RTA d 



Map 4 Total hedgehog records 1 999-2000 



probably in part an artefact since this was Marion 

 Browne's most closely observed area and the 

 absence of RTAs is in contrast to positive reports 

 by the Garden Clubs at Chippenham, Corsham and 

 Box, although at Chippenham where hedgehogs 

 were regularly observed five years ago, they are now 

 only occasional. 



One fact which emerges from the present survey 

 is that with very few exceptions all the road 

 causalities are within villages, hamlets or the 

 outskirts of towns. The proximity of villages in 

 Wiltshire is such that the stretches of road more 

 than one km. away from residences are limited, but 

 where there are such gaps on the A-roads 

 4,303,344,345,360, 361 and 419, etc., there is a 

 conspicuous scarcity of records. The absence of 

 carcases on the M4, noted also by Marion Browne, 

 is not surprising; one would expect hedgehogs to 

 have learned to avoid a motorway and any casualty 

 will quickly get flattened beyond recognition at 70 

 m.p.h. 



One exception appeared to be RTAs on a fast, 

 straight section of A360 (ca.SU100390), noted in 

 both 1999 and 2000. This was investigated and it 

 was found that the nearby hamlet of Druid's Lodge 

 (SU099390) and the farm buildings at Asserton 

 (SU085395) had gardens where hedgehogs were 

 common and badgers only occasional, the nearest 

 main sett being 3 km. away at SU 074378. 



There has been a decline in RTA numbers from 

 61 in 1999 to 53 in 2000 which is too small to be 

 statistically significant, but it could reflect a real 

 decline as there were slightly more observers in 2000 

 than in 1999 and several of them have noted a 

 further scarcity of RTAs in 2001. 



LIVE SIGHTINGS 



Map 4 shows the position of all hedgehogs alive or 

 dead for the years 1999 and 2000. In a very few 

 instances the report depends on the presence of 

 recognisable droppings but in the majority the 

 hedgehogs were seen . These observations were 

 mostly in gardens where many keen gardeners are 

 fully aware of local hedgehogs ; negative records 

 may be due to inaccessibility (e.g. walled gardens), 

 the presence of dogs, lack of observation, or true 

 absence from the locality. Where garden clubs polled 

 their members, the ratio of negatives and positives, 

 both regular and occasional, reflects these variables 

 as well as actual geographical differences. In six 



