Hedgehogs' inky paw prints point to sparse distribution
The UK's hedgehogs are thought to be in rapid decline, but the elusive creatures have been hard to monitor
Hedgehogs are more thinly spread in the UK than previously believed, a study using ink pads to record their paw prints has revealed.
The nocturnal mammals were found at only 39% of sites surveyed.
Experts and volunteers set up tunnels baited with tinned sausages. Hedgehogs had to walk over ink pads to reach the food, leaving their prints on paper.
The method allowed researchers to identify hedgehog presence with almost complete accuracy for the first time.
The research, which was carried out by scientists from Nottingham Trent University, the University of Reading and The Mammal Society, is published in the journal Mammal Review.
Hedgehog populations in the UK are believed to be in rapid decline.
The new study builds a picture about how they are distributed in urban and rural areas. The finding that hedgehogs were only present in 39% of locations visited was "lower than anticipated", said research team member Dr Richard Yarnell, from Nottingham Trent University's School of Animal, Rural and Environmental Sciences.
"Historically we thought that hedgehogs were pretty well distributed across the country," he told BBC Nature.
He added: "What's certainly clear now and after using this methodology is that the populations... seem to be quite local but not widely distributed across the countryside as we once suspected.
"And in the wider rural landscape they do generally seem to be absent."
The research also supported previous findings that hedgehogs are more likely to be present in areas where there were no badgers. But the reasons for this are unclear.
Spiky subjects
In the past, monitoring the secretive creatures accurately has proven difficult.
The inky footprints method can identify the presence of hedgehogs with 95% accuracy
The team wanted to test the effectiveness of footprint tunnels as a way of monitoring hedgehogs on a large scale.
The study is the first to assess "actual hedgehog numbers on the ground", said Dr Yarnell. Ten tunnels complete with ink pads and paper were positioned at 111 rural and urban sites and inspected for paw prints every morning.
The method can identify the presence of hedgehogs in an area with 95% accuracy, according to the team.
"This is the first method that we've been able to actually get a true feeling for what their habitat preferences may be, and how they're occupying our wider countryside," said Dr Yarnell.
The researchers are now using the ink pad technique to carry out thefirst national hedgehog survey in England and Wales with the British Hedgehog Preservation Society and the People's Trust for Endangered Species to build a picture of the state of the species.
Volunteers have already been setting up and monitoring the tunnels over the summer, and the project is due to continue from May to September in 2015.
Dr Yarnell said of the footprint tunnels: "In terms of the methodology, it's easy to deploy, can be used by amateurs and hopefully it will be the cornerstone of hedgehog monitoring going into the future."
It is hoped studying hedgehogs in this way could reveal more about their decline, and lead to more effective conservation of the animals, which are classified as a "species of principal importance" in England under the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act (NERC).
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