The People's Trust for Endangered Species (PTES). the British Hedgehog Preservation Society and Dr Paul Bright (Royal Holloway) have been studying the hedgehog population to see how it is coping with changes in farming practices, urban developments etc. The general conclusion is that the numbers of this mammal are declining – see the woodland blog.

The mole, like the hedgehog, is insectivorous and there is concern about its numbers. It is thought to be one of the most common wildlife mammals in the UK, but we do not really know how many there are, nor where they are!

Have you seen a mole? - not many people have but most of us have seen a molehill at some time or another. A molehill is a reliable indicator of the presence of a mole(s) in an area. You could help build a picture of the UK mole population by reporting sightings of molehills.

Molewatch (organised by PTES and the Mammals Trust UK) would like information about molehills in our gardens, local parks, fields so that they can build a picture / distribution map of moles across the UK. If you would like to help, visit http://www.molewatch.org.uk/ and register. To see the picture that is developing, have a look at the map so far : http://www.molewatch.org.uk/

Note : molewatch.org.uk seems to have disappeared since this was written in 2008.

Hedgehog fact sheet available here

See also blogs about hedgehogs in adjacent related posts.