Innholdsfortegnelse for Spring 2021 i BBC Wildlife Magazine

Back in 2013, BBC Wildlife asked readers to vote for which species should become Britain’s wildlife icon. It wasn’t a close contest – the hedgehog received 42 per cent of the vote, outstripping the badger in second place by almost two votes to one. As our own Ben Hoare put it at the time, “You won’t find anyone with a bad word to say about Mrs Tiggy-Winkle.” And yet here we are just eight years later, talking about what we need to do to save this national treasure, which was added to the Red List last summer. It seems hard to fathom that a mammal we cherish so dearly should be classified as vulnerable to extinction. Find out how to do your bit from p48. Sticking with garden visitors, this…

Draw back a curtain of bladderwrack, and you may reveal a fish that looks like it was designed by Dr Seuss. This cartoonish blob doesn’t look or behave like any other fish I know. Deep purple blotches, a red tail fin, yellow lips and electric turquoise spots usually convince the finder that it is something special, but there’s more to the Cornish sucker (or Cornish clingfish, Lepadogaster purpurea) than meets the eye. This fish has to be one of my favourite UK weirdos and, as ever, when an animal looks so peculiar, it has a good ecological backstory. Clearly, it’s designed for something other than free swimming – more for creeping about on the bottom or over rocks. Here, it feeds on any small creature it can find, from snails…

1 Spey Bay on the Moray Firth and Culbin Bar, just to the west, are the two largest stretches of shingle in Scotland. Look out for the rare Scots lovage growing in the shingle, and bottlenose dolphins just offshore. 2 Blakeney Point is a spit of shingle and sand dunes that extends over 6km along the North Norfolk coast. It is home to a thriving grey seal colony and one of the largest little tern colonies in Britain. 3 Orford Ness on the Suffolk coast is around 16km long, making it Europe’s largest vegetated shingle spit. Previously used by the military for conducting secret tests, it is also one of the best places in Britain to see brown hares. 4 Dungeness is an RSPB reserve on the Kent coast that…

You would think that people would jump at the chance to have someone plant up their front garden in exchange for filling in a few questionnaires and sending off some saliva samples. But when geographer Lauriane Suyin Chalmin-Pui began recruiting Salford residents for her study into the impact of front gardens on health and well-being, she found the exact opposite to be the case. “I knocked on a lot of doors – I think it was about 300. A lot of people told me to go away,” she says. Chalmin-Pui wasn’t necessarily surprised by this response. “It does kind of sound like a scam,” she acknowledges. She persevered, explaining that she wanted to find out if residential planting might offer city dwellers similar therapeutic effects as those demonstrated by urban…

Spring is the busiest time of year for the birds in my garden. In my nestbox, a female blue tit has just taken up residence. She has been building her nest by collecting moss and grass, and piling it into the box until it is about half full. She has left a space in the corner, away from the entrance hole, where she will construct the nest cup. Soon, she will switch to collecting hair and feathers to heap on top of the moss – then she will lay her first, delicately speckled, white egg, which she will hide in the feather-filled hole. Only when her clutch of 10 eggs is nearly complete will she fashion the hair and feathers into a neat little cup within the space in the…

The Hedgehog Friendly Campus campaign, funded by the BHPS, was launched at The University of Sheffield in 2018. So far, close to 100 universities have signed up. JO WILKINSON is the dynamo behind this innovative idea. WHY UNIVERSITIES? Universities are massive – together, they own 73,000 football fields worth of land in England and Wales alone. That’s a lot of potential hedgehog habitat, so we launched a campaign to ensure campuses are places where hedgehogs can thrive. We know staff and students want to do more to protect native species, and we’ve designed a toolkit full of practical changes they can make, from litter collection to installing hedgehog boxes. WHAT ARE THE THREE MOST EFFECTIVE MEASURES? Increasing habitat, for instance by introducing wildflower meadows, leaving brambles alone and letting grass…

Dylan Allman, age 14, Monmouth, Wales Dylan’s Damascene moment came last summer, when finding a hedgehog in the garden dragged him away from his computer. “I heard a rustling,” he says. “It was the first time my mum or I had ever seen a hedgehog.” Dylan set up trail cameras, made a film, built a website and launched a communication campaign. “Whenever I saw my neighbours, I would explain how they could help hedgehogs, and now pretty much the entire street is connected up with hedgehog holes.” But Dylan has ambitions beyond his street. Next will be garden equipment manufacturers and retailers, to raise awareness about injuries caused by mowers and strimmers. Then the council and its planners. One to watch – I am expecting great things! • hedgehogaware.org.uk…

Bioacoustics is the study of sound in relation to animals. Bioacoustic monitoring has been transformed by the latest generation of supersensitive digital audio recorders. Researchers at the BTO, which is pioneering the tech in the UK, say that it’s like having “digital ears”. The devices are simply left out in the field to record and store ambient sounds, such as the vocalisations of birds, bats or crickets. The great advantage is that you can record 24/7 (and in awkward or remote locations), then later analyse the data by computer. Ben Hoare…

HELEN SCALES The marine biologist shines a light on the creatures that could be impacted by deep-sea mining. “Delayed by the pandemic, plans for deep-sea mines are likely to go ahead in 2021,” Helen says. See p32 HUGH WARWICK Want to know how to help vulnerable hedgehogs? Ecologist Hugh takes a closer look at current conservation efforts. “Most people love hedgehogs and want to help – they just need a gentle nudge in the right direction,” he says. See p48 NOËL SWEENEY Animals are living beings that are legally classed as ‘things’. Barrister Noël asks if it’s time that changed. “The fight for animal rights is the last moral crusade of the 21st century,” he says. See p66 SARAH RAVEN The writer and all-round gardening guru tells us why grass-of-Parnassus…

Engineers have investigated the design of the sucker fish disc, and are imitating it to create ‘super suckers’ that can do what our simple plastic or rubber suckers have until now struggled to achieve. There could be many uses for this technology, from sticking a shower caddy to wet bathroom tiles (with no risk of it failing, even when straddling a grout line) to attaching sensors to the skin of whales. Perhaps most remarkably, the super suckers may be strong enough to enable a human to scale a cliff face.…

1 A nest site is chosen between some thin, upright branches, often deep within bramble or gorse bushes where the thorns offer protection from predators. A simple layer of moss is built up and secured to the branches with silk. 2 Both birds gradually build up the nest by adding moss and lichen to the rim whilst sitting inside the nest cup, and use spider silk to secure the nest to the branches. 3 The final nest has a domed roof and is lined with up to 1,500 feathers. Finished nests have about 300 sprigs of moss, and about 3,000 lichen flakes, all held together by 600 spider silk egg cocoons.…

Across the UK, some 600 centres offer care for hedgehogs, ranging in size from a single person operating from their kitchen to impressive purpose-built wildlife hospitals. One of the busiest centres is Vale Wildlife Hospital, near Tewkesbury, set up in 1984 by Caroline Gould. In 2020, the centre admitted more than 7,000 casualties, ranging from badgers and bats to weasels and wrens. But by far the most common patients are hedgehogs. Vale costs about £40,000 a month to operate, relying on volunteers and donations. Other well-respected centres include Shepreth Hedgehog Hospital near Cambridge and Hessilhead Wildlife Rescue in North Ayrshire, Scotland. In the UK, wildlife hospitals are unregulated. Unlike in the Netherlands and Denmark, for example, anyone can take in sick hedgehogs. This is something that many of us would…

Jonathan Houseago, Thurston, Suffolk Jonathan got in touch with me through my Hedgehog Highways Facebook group. He was concerned about the three different developments planned for the outskirts of his Suffolk village, and how they might impact on the local hedgehog population. “I started by writing to the three developers,” Jonathan explains. “One was already committed to building hedgehog highways into their development, another, a small family firm, immediately understood what I was hoping for and changed their plans. The third, however, a big company, was not interested.” But Jonathan was undeterred. Backed by the ecological science of the Hedgehog Street campaign, his polite and persistent letters eventually won the day. The developer committed to building in 75 holes between the new houses on the site.…

One of the citizen science projects that the Hedgehog Street campaign undertook was the Hedgehog Housing Census. I was sceptical as to the value of these structures – not helped by being shown hedgehogs ignoring them and creating nests against the lovingly built or bought houses! But I was wrong. The survey showed that hedgehogs really do use them, both bought and built – with a preference for built. It can take a while for hedgehogs to start using nestboxes, so don’t be downhearted if you install one and it’s not immediately occupied. They are used more often in back gardens and in sheltered spots. Providing food (in the garden, not in the house) and bedding increases the chances of a hog moving in. Here are just three nestboxes worth…

We solve your wildlife mysteries. Email your questions to wildquestions@immediate.co.uk More amazing facts at discoverwildlife.com BEHAVIOUR How much wood does a woodchuck chuck? The word ‘woodchuck’ (another name for a groundhog) is thought to be a corruption of the Native American word wuchak – the name in no way references the rodents’ biology or behaviour. In fact, they have very little to do with wood. Their diets are not tree-based, but consist largely of plants, grasses, fruits and occasional invertebrates. Neither do they make nests of wood, preferring to dig large and elaborate burrows underground. These burrows were put to service in 1988 to answer the famous riddle: how much wood would a woodchuck chuck, if a woodchuck could chuck wood? US Fish and Wildlife worker Richard Thomas theorised that…

RED LIONFISH LARVA Like many marine fish, red lionfish are impressively fecund. A full-size female can produce up to two million eggs a year, which hatch into tiny larvae after a day or two spent drifting through the ocean. The larval lionfish in this image is barely 2.5cm long, yet already looks like a ghostly version of its spectacular, venom-spined parents. Its glowing halo is formed by translucent pectoral fins and luminous spines, which it has flared in a defensive position. The larva will ride the currents for about a month before turning into a juvenile fish. Ben Hoare…

Want to get something off your chest? This is the ideal place By contacting us, you consent to let us print your letter in BBC Wildlife Magazine. Letters may be edited. EMAIL US wildlifeletters@immediate.co.uk FOLLOW US facebook.com/wildlifemagazine;twitter.com/WildlifeMag; instagram.com/bbcwildlifemagazine WRITE TO US BBC Wildlife , Eagle House, Colston Avenue, Bristol, BS1 4ST Staying positive What a pleasure it was to read the 50 reasons to be cheerful feature (January 2021). It is so good to know that all is not doom and gloom and some of the efforts of the hardworking folks who actually work to conserve our wildlife, rather than just talk about it, are paying off. It is also really special, in these times – when wildlife is giving us something else to think about, watch and treasure –…

Despite being tricky to walk on and nigh-on impossible to build a sandcastle from, shingle beaches are nevertheless a treasured and familiar part of the UK’s coast. On the worldwide stage, this habitat is also surprisingly rare. Away from the ‘shingle stronghold’ of north-west Europe, Japan and New Zealand are the only countries with large numbers of shingle beaches. Ecologists classify shingle beach as being composed of deposited sediment ranging from 2mm to 200mm. This definition puts about 30 per cent of the UK’s coastline within this category. However, a significant proportion is composed of little more than simple fringing beaches within reach of powerful storm waves. At these sites, the constantly moving shingle means that colonising vegetation is unable to gain a foothold, ultimately resulting in a habitat of…

The world has a stake in the future of the Amazon rainforest. It’s shocking to realise that, no matter how many campaigns are fought, treaties signed or protected areas established, the future of life on Earth rests, to a large extent, with a handful of irresponsible, irrational and ignorant individuals. Environmental decisions that are critical to the entire planet are made on a whim. Donald Trump did it for climate change (just for starters) and now Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro is doing it for the Amazon rainforest. The Amazon is home to the largest rainforest on Earth. Covering 40 per cent of the South American continent, it spans no fewer than eight countries (nine, if you include French Guiana, a department of France). The most species-rich biome on Earth –…

For some time, it seemed likely that the world’s first deep-sea mine would open on hydrothermal vents off Papua New Guinea. Canadian mining company Nautilus Minerals obtained a mining licence from the Papua New Guinean government to operate in national waters, and built three mining machines that would excavate the tall chimneys of black smokers. But in 2019, facing spiralling costs and repeated financial setbacks, the company went into administration. Other countries have conducted test mines within their national waters, which, unlike areas in the high seas, don’t fall under the purview of the ISA. In 2020, a Japanese state-backed mining company extracted cobalt and nickel from a seamount 400km east of Tokyo.…

• Keep THICK HEDGES or large bushes in the garden and avoid cutting them back early in spring. • MUD is often used by many species – keeping a muddy patch in the garden will encourage martins and swallows, which rely on mud, but also thrushes and magpies that incorporate mud when building their nests. • A pile of WELL ROTTED WOOD may encourage a song thrush to nest nearby, as it will use this to form its nest cup. • Keep your eyes peeled for TELLTALE ACTIVITY – birds regularly entering a particular bush, often carrying material, could be a sign that nesting is in progress. Similarly, if a bird flies out of a bush alarm calling, it’s a good indication that a nest is present.…

I first met these two when they were just 12 – they had recently set up Hedgehog Friendly Town, a local hedgehog hospital in Stratford-upon-Avon. They are dedicated, knowledgeable young people who give me great hope for the future. They have been recognised widely for their work, receiving commendations and awards from the RSPCA, Jane Goodall and the prime minister, among others. To date, the duo has helped 554 hedgehogs. “Initially we just looked after and fed hedgehogs until they could be released,” explains Kyra. “However, now we have been trained to do injections with different types of medications, treat with fluids and also use a nebuliser.” “We have learnt so much,” adds Sophie. “And it is more than just the individual hedgehogs we are trying to help. They need…

Chris Powles, Kirtlington, Oxfordshire The Kirtlington Wildlife and Conservation Society (KWACS) is a small community group that punches well above its weight when it comes to helping hedgehogs. “The village is full of stone walls,” says Chris, its Chairman. “So, when it came to making a hedgehog highway, linking gardens together, it was no small task. However, we got a map, calculated the minimum number of holes we would need to maximise connectivity, and set to work. The support has been superb.” The result is an array of amazingly creative holes, through stone, brick and wood, linking 60 premises, including the village church, pub and school. Even dramatic height differences (between the ground on opposite sides of a wall) haven’t got in the way. Chris has constucted an ingenious stone…

1 WHAT ARE THEY AND WHICH SPECIES HAVE THEM? Virgin births occur when an unfertilised egg divides and develops, eventually producing a full-blown adult. It is a type of asexual reproduction, also known as parthenogenesis, and it’s more common than you might think. Many invertebrates, including aphids, water fleas and some bees and scorpions, reproduce this way, but the phenomenon also occurs in some vertebrates. Komodo dragons, hammerhead sharks and turkeys are known to produce virgin births, too. 2 WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO REPRODUCE THIS WAY? As some women might be inclined to tell you, there are many reasons to do away with males. In female-only species, every adult member can produce offspring, which means the population can grow faster than species with both sexes. Energy isn’t…