Homes for hedgehogs - SERC

Operating as a part of Somerset Wildlife Trust, The Somerset Environmental Records Centre (also known as SERC), collects, manages, analyses and supplies data on local wildlife and the surrounding environment. This vast set of data includes areas where specialist habitats are found, as well as sites within Somerset which have environmental designations - such as Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) - and any species that have statutory protection.

As well as producing useful insights, the data SERC gathers also helps in the planning process. Our records help ecological consultancies to do assessments so that their clients conform to important environmental legislation.

Environmental data is also used to help with conservation efforts. SERC works closely with conservation organisations all across the County on many core projects and conservation strategies, including biodiversity action plans, locally designated wildlife and geological sites and the Nature Recovery Strategy.

SERC hold millions of records across a huge number of species, but sadly, we only have approximately 1300 records of hedgehogs across Somerset since our records began in 1986. This means that our data set for this enigmatic British mammal isn't particularly meaningful. Understanding change in distribution and subsequently population is difficult to determine and so it’s incredibly hard to understand how hedgehogs are faring in Somerset.

Data gathering for hedgehogs is tricky. Nocturnal animals are notoriously hard to count, and many people still think hedgehogs are relatively common, so don’t feel the need to record sightings. However, hedgehogs are a household favourite, and are anecdotally doing well in urban environments, so it’s likely that most sightings will be in these areas. This actually mirrors data for mammals in general, as recording in the wider countryside can be difficult, which can skew the understanding of Urban v Rural populations.

Whist SERC do hold huge amounts of data, we actually need more! All of Somerset’s species are under recorded and the types of data traditionally collected only provide basic knowledge of a species presence or absence in an area.

Our hedgehog count is vital in gathering the additional data needed to help support our understanding of this species. Targeted citizen science projects such as this can help compare year on year data to look at distribution and changes in population numbers, which in turn helps to understand how well a given species is doing.

We hope that you can help us in gathering important hedgehog data and hope to report back soon afterwards with early results. Want to join in with the count? Click the link below!

Get involved!

This is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to actions you can take to protect Somerset’s hedgehogs. See below for some more ideas, and look out for emails from us over the next three months as we share lots of tips, ideas and fun facts about hedgehogs and how you can help the hogs in your garden.