Hedgehog Survey

TWIC’s Hedgehog survey aims to gather up-to-date information on the distribution of Hedgehogs, Erinaceus europaeus, in south-east and part of central Scotland.

The Hedgehog has suffered a long historic decline and is included on Britain’s Red List as a species at risk from extinction. Over the last 20 years, Hedgehog populations in rural areas declined by around 33% and 75% (Wembridge et al. 2022).

By launching a survey of Hedgehogs and inviting everyone to send in their Hedgehog sightings, TWIC hopes to develop a clearer picture of the status of the hedgehog in our region.

For more information on Hedgehogs, please download our Hedgehog factsheet (PDF, 283 KB) or visit the British Hedgehog Preservation Society website.

If you see a hedgehog (dead or alive) please let us know by filling out the form below.

Results to date

Thank you to everyone who has submitted records to the survey to date. The records can be viewed on the NBN Atlas Scotland. Please keep sending them in!

2,609

Hedgehog records submitted

533

Dead Hedgehog sightings

1,918

Live Hedgehog sightings

Submit your hedgehog sightings

Please fill in as many details as possible but those marked Required must be filled in. You should fill in this form each time you see a hedgehog. Please only submit a record if you are happy for us to hold a copy of your personal detail and to process it. We may need to contact you regarding the record you submit. Please note we can only accept sightings for the Lothians, Scottish Borders, Falkirk, Stirling and Clackmannanshire Council areas and the Loch Lomond & Trossachs National Park. If you have sightings outwith this area in the UK, please submit your sightings to iRecord. Thank you.
Please tell us if the hedgehogs were dead or alive.
Use this space to tell us any other information about the hedgehogs you saw (e.g. 5 young hedgehogs in nest, adult hedgehog eating food put out in garden, hedgehog dead on side of road etc.)

Where did you see this hedgehog?

Give the name of the place you saw it, e.g. “Vogrie Country Park, Midlothian” or “Garden in Hawick”. Please also give a grid reference (e.g. NT123456). If you don’t know this, please use the Grab-a-grid Reference’ tool below to find out. Please do not provide house names or numbers in this field.

Grab a Grid Reference Tool from Bedfordshire Natural History Museum – Obtain a grid reference by searching on postcode or place name. Can also be used to check the accuracy of a grid reference obtained in the field.

When did you see this hedgehog?

Be as accurate as you can but please don’t guess! If you don’t know the day, please put the first of the month and the year.
MM slash DD slash YYYY

Who saw this hedgehog?

Please enter the name of the person who saw the hedgehog. Extra details like email and telephone numbers are optional* but are valuable if we need to contact you about your sighting. If the recorder is under 16, please submit a parent or guardian’s name.
Drop files here or
Accepted file types: jpg, jpeg, png, gif, Max. file size: 50 MB.
    Consent(Required)

    References:

    Wembridge, D., Johnson, G., Al-Fulaij, N. and Langton, S. (2022). The State of Britain’s Hedgehogs 2022. Available at: https://www.hedgehogstreet.org/about-our-hedgehog-street-campaign/stateof/ (Accessed 09/05/2024).

    Mathews F, and Harrower C. (2020). IUCN – compliant Red List for Britain’s Terrestrial Mammals. Assessment by the Mammal Society under contract to Natural England, Natural Resources Wales and Scottish Natural Heritage. Natural England, Peterborough ISBN 978-1-78354-485-1