As it is Bonfire night this weekend, I thought it only right that I write something to try and protect the wildlife that unfortunately does sometimes get caught up in the celebration. I really do enjoy Bonfire night and hearing about everybody's traditions but I urge that anybody who is having a bonfire - please check it for wildlife before you light it!! This is so important for wildlife - especially hedgehogs as the setup of a bonfire with all the wood and leaves is a lovely location for a hedgehog to hibernate in which is why so many end up being burnt alive. This is incredibly sad and with hedgehog numbers in decline, we need to do all that we can to help them to survive.
To prevent this from happening, leave as little time between building and lighting the bonfire as possible so that wildlife doesn't have as much opportunity to enter it. Otherwise, move the bonfire just before lighting so wildlife can escape and if neither of this are possible (but I'm pretty sure a little more time on setting it up is worth not burning wildlife to death), lift up layers of the bonfire and look in with a torch and listen extremely carefully for signs of life! You could also put some wire around the bonfire that animals couldn't fit through. However, hedgehogs are brilliant at climbing so I would definitely still check!! If you happen to find a hedgehog in the bonfire, it would be a good idea to give it a weigh before you let it go back into a safer environment because it is time for hibernation and a hedgehog needs to be at least 500g for a good chance of surviving through this. If you want to feed the hedgehogs you've found, make sure that you give them loaf dog food (with no fish) or dried mealworms if they're over 450g. Also, give them some water, but NOT milk. If the hedgehog is underweight for hibernation, either ring the RSPCA or take it to your local wildlife hospital as soon as possible and they will take good care of it until after the winter when it can be released. Put the hedgehog you found in a box with a lid that has airholes and with newspaper, towels or other nesting material. They liked the bonfire so just create a setting like that inside the box until it is in safe hands! On a final note, I hope you all have a brilliant Bonfire night and if you are going anywhere for a display, see if you can ask those running it if they've checked their bonfire! ©
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