I love bonfires – I have deep and good memories of helping my father, feeding a fire in the garden as Autumn tumbled the leaves from the trees. I loved the smell, the crackling sound and the sight of tongues of flame reaching skyward.
One of the key messages I like to share when I am running my longer training course is … ‘Think Hedgehog’. These courses, Hedgehog Ecology and Management for Practitioners are aimed at land managers, local authorities, ecological consultants and developers … drop me a line if you are interested in me running one from HedgeOX.
Bonfires and hedgehogs are tragically related … especially at this time of the year.
If you want to build the perfect hedgehog hibernaculum (the special nest they use for hibernation) I would suggest gathering a big pile of dry leaves, then surrounding these with a tent of twigs. Around this, build a structure of heavier and larger pieces of wood – until you have got an amazing …. bonfire.
PLEASE – please do one of three things.
1 – Safest is to build your bonfire on the day you want to light it.
2 – If that is impossible, then please do check – blunt end of a garden rake poked into the base, then lever it all up and rescue whoever might be living there.
3 – Finally, for large events where this is impossible, consider surrounding the structure with hedgehog proof fencing. That might sound like a lot of work, but do you really want to risk an incinerated hedgehog on your conscience?
photo: Fay Vass
And please don’t burn your leaves! Hedgehogs cannot survive hibernation without an insulating layer of leaves.
Oh – and before you go – you have probably already signed my petition calling on hedgehog highways to be built into every new development … but could you please also share it as far and wide as possible? It is not impossible that we will get to a third of a million people all calling for hedgehogs to be given more of a chance.