Hedgehog Conservation Ireland

and why I don't like leaving my postcode!

‘Oh, lucky you - going to Dublin - did you have fun, did you drink Guinness?’

That was the sort of comment I have been getting, a lot. In reality, things were rather different! Let me explain …

Oh, and to set the scene better, as I am getting older I am finding that I turning more and more into a hobbit - with an increasing reluctance to leave my postcode!!

The reason for the visit was the first gathering organised by the brand new organisation, Hedgehog Conservation Ireland - who want to establish a National Hedgehog Conservation Plan for Ireland.

I have not been very involved with the work going on to produce Britain’s National Hedgehog Conservation Strategy - though that is about to change. And I had not been invited to Dublin either … but at the last minute, my boss - well, the CEO of the BHPS, found she could not make the trip and asked me to step in … yippee - ‘an adventure,’ said the bit of me that is not a hobbit wanting to stay home!

Then I looked at the diary - Friday 20th February was the conference … but I was booked in to talking to the Yarnton Gardening Club on the night before - so that meant flying was the only way. I don’t like flying - for many reasons - carbon being just one … the cramped proximity to strangers, the waiting, the layers of security and administration that are arbitrary and run by people who hold great power over you … I think that is it - the absurdity of the demands - taking off this, that, and the other - pouring away the water … all because of a threat so tiny - while the constant damage is being caused by the planes themselves (and just in case there is some pea-brain who thinks I don’t get the irony of saying that and being part of the problem… I do!!)

The cheapest flight that would get me in on time required me setting the alarm for 0145 … and I did not get home until 2230 from the talk …

The journey there was uneventful though I did struggle to grab any more sleep. In the taxi to the venue, the Clontarf Golf Club, the driver said it was a very strange place to have a conference … I told him what it was about, he concluded that it was a very strange conference… and that was the end of the conversation about hedgehogs …

In retrospect this was an illuminating moment …

There were a few faces I recognised from the other international gatherings of hedgehog researchers, but most of the 50 people there were new to me - which was exciting.

The working group who pulled it together were Dr Amy Haigh, Elaine O’Riordan, Dr Sophie Lund Rasmussen (she gets everywhere!) and Alan Bell.

Sophie, Amy, Elaine, and Alan, opening the conference

Alan had heard Sophie speaking on the radio about hedgehogs, and, being a rather dynamic sort of person, decided something must be done!

The meeting was good - lots of interest in starting a project to help hedgehogs … but it became increasingly obvious that things are very different in Ireland. Because of the many similarities - because of the people I had met from Ireland, I had assumed that there was a similar societal level of delight in these prickly beasts.

To start with, there has been very little research done - Amy Haigh finished her PhD 15 years ago … Elaine is doing hers now. In the break I was talking to Petra, who works with the Kildare Wildlife Rescue, and was amazed to find out how few people there are who take in and care for wildlife. There are hundreds of people in Britain who run rescues - ranging from the wildlife hospitals - all the way to the garden shed initiatives.

I got the feeling that there was a great deal of education to be done - not just about hedgehogs, but also about the importance of a complex ecosystem being allowed to function.

But this is not stopping these determined folk - and it is important - across their range ‘our’ hedgehog is now considered to be Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List - and in Britain it is up another level at Vulnerable to Extinction.

They may not have the data yet, but it is not unreasonable to assume the situation in Ireland is similar to Britain … and the great thing is how much there is to draw on the experience we have had - from surveys to public engagement - there is no ‘ownership’ of this, we just want to have the best outcome for hedgehogs.

One thing I found really interesting was the relationship with badgers … as we know, increased badger numbers in Britain tends to create a landscape without hedgehogs … mainly through competition and habitat fragmentation. But in Ireland the population of badgers is much lower … which might mean the hogs are happier in the farmed landscape. So much to learn!!

So - it was all good - great people … Katy Bell from Ulster Wildlife was there and over lunch shared some very interesting research that has been looking at the relationship between pine Martens and grey squirrels … more on that another time.

And I got a lift back to the airport with a lovely man called Patrick. But then … the delays … when you are already running on fumes, another 90 minutes sitting in a departure lounge can seem a lot longer! And if we did not get to London in time - the coach that runs to Oxford slips into every 2 hours … rather than every 30 minutes and I really did not the hard floor of the airport while delirious with lack of sleep!

I rationalised that having one of those legendary pints of Guinness would in no way assist my state, so I refrained - relying on coffee. That is when I started to really consider the importance of not leaving my postcode!!

Oh - I should stop moaning - brain got filled, I got invitations to visit Kildare Wildlife Rescue and Ulster Wildlife, and I got to finish Living Things by Munir Hachemi - a superb book from Fitzcarraldo Press. But I have been a wreck all weekend!!! Hope you have had a fun one!