RSPB Spotlight Hedgehogs

Description

Much loved – but about to be lost? The hedgehog was voted Britain’s favourite animal in 2013, yet numbers in the British countryside have halved this century. Generations of children have been captivated by Beatrix Potter’s ‘The tale of Mrs Tiggy-winkle’ and Romans feted hedgehogs as weather prophets, yet many cultures routinely consume hedgehog meat for medicinal uses as varied as alleviating arthritis and arresting impotence. Unmistakably and uniquely, in European terms garbed in spines, this mammal is a ‘gardener’s best friend’ – yet one upon which we are rarely lucky enough to clasp eyes.