A sharp creature when it comes to survival

I’VE been seeing quite a few hedgehogs recently and on several occasions when I’ve let my dog out at night there has been an uproar of barking as he discovers one and dares it to unroll and fight like a man.

I like hedgehogs and I know they help to control slugs and other pests in the garden so I’m pleased to see so many around.

Pleased and a little surprised. Hedgehog populations in Ireland fluctuate on a cyclical basis. Typically a hard winter causes a population crash and it takes three to five years for numbers to build up again. During the very cold weather last December and January I imagined that many hibernating hedgehogs were freezing to death and that this would be one of the lean years.