Episode 2: Kéisécker – Hedgehog
What’s snuffling and rustling out there in the garden…?
With the new ” Lend an ear to nature” campaign, the Mouvement Ecologique wants to draw attention to these often-threatened species and their habitats – and combine it with a guessing quiz on the noise of the animal in question.
A total of two short videos on a species of animal from our localities and landscapes will be published each month from the end of April until October.
Guess with us – which animal is making that sound? and win a Naturata voucher worth €50 per spot!
Did you spot the hedgehog in our video clip?
When the night is quiet, you can hear a hedgehog snuffling and munching as it searches for beetles and other small creatures in the garden. You can also often hear it rustling through dry grass and leaves. Unfortunately, we often don’t hear it anymore, because traffic and airplanes make too much noise – even at night…
Habits and Needs
Hedgehogs are active at dusk and during the night. During the day, they sleep in a shelter, often under a pile of twigs and leaves. Except during mating season, they are solitary and travel 1–2 km each night in search of food. In winter, hedgehogs hibernate.
They need a diverse landscape with fallow areas and field or meadow edges where lots of beetles, earwigs, millipedes, and earthworms live. They often travel more than a kilometer to forage in extensively used pastures.
Threats to Hedgehogs
Modern, cleared agricultural landscapes and the decline in insect populations make it increasingly difficult for hedgehogs to find enough food. In addition, their habitats are often fragmented by roads, and despite their spines, hedgehogs stand no chance against cars. Robotic lawnmowers running at night can also have tragic consequences…
Distribution in Luxembourg
Thanks to a citizen science campaign from 2019 to 2021, Mouvement Ecologique, with the help of committed citizens, was able to document 259 sightings. The results showed that the species has almost disappeared from the Ösling region (northern Luxembourg) and is often absent even in the Gutland (southern Luxembourg), where agricultural areas have become increasingly hostile to wildlife. Today, the hedgehog has retreated into the gardens of our towns and villages – but even there it struggles, due to overly tidy gardens and sterile lawns…
How can I help hedgehogs?
- Let nature take its course in your garden – avoid mowing and tidying everything up. Instead, leave a pile of leaves and twigs in a quiet corner, so the hedgehog has a place to rest and sleep.
- Hedgehogs need a territory about the size of 8 football fields. By cutting a 10 x 10 cm hole in your fence to the neighbor’s garden, you allow them to move between gardens and use a larger area…
You’ll find more useful tips on how to make your garden hedgehog-friendly, as well as further information on hedgehogs, here:
https://naturelo.meco.lu/de-keisecker/
⇒ Are you interested in more episodes? Click here to go to the campaign