SIR: Reading Ron Freethy's Living World column in your June 28 issue, we wished we had been with him watching the young badgers playing. We weren't at all surprised to read that a hedgehog had taken the opportunity to snatch some peanuts.

At this time of year, many mother hedgehogs are killed on the roads and there are little orphaned hoglets in need of human help. Not every baby hedgehog is orphaned, though, and many are rescued unnecessarily.

Hoglets squeak like baby birds and if you come across a nest of them under a hedge or in the wood pile it is easy to think they have been abandoned and are squeaking in distress. It is likely, though, that the mother hedgehog is simply out foraging for food to bring back to the nest.

Once a nest has been disturbed, the mother hedgehog will not be happy about caring for the hoglets, and she may even attack them. If you suspect a nest has been abandoned, please watch out for a good while to make sure the mother is not going to come back before you try to rescue the hoglets.

Many of your readers will already know of the work of the British Hedgehog Preservation Society. Its aims are to encourage and give advice to the public about the care of hedgehogs, particularly when injured, sick, orphaned, treated cruelly or in any danger.

To encourage the younger generation to value and respect our natural wildlife and, by supplying information and giving lectures, to foster their interest in hedgehogs.

To fund serious research into the behavioural habits of hedgehogs and to ascertain the best methods of assisting their survival.

Anyone who wishes to learn more about the Society, its activities and the wide range of hedgehog goods which are sold, should send a stamped addressed envelope to the address below.

A H Coles

British Hedgehog Preservation Society

Knowbury House, Shropshire, SY8 3LQ

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