Hibernation is over, with spring, hedgehogs point their snouts out of the nest where they spent the cold season.
The LPO association for the defense of wildlife and the Natural History Museum are taking the opportunity to offer a "hedgehog mission".
“It should allow scientists to assess the state of health of the species;
in England, where a similar protocol has existed for 20 years, a decline of over a third of the population has been described!
»Points out Marjorie Poitevin, responsible for participatory sciences at the LPO.
This animal rarely hunted for its flesh is the victim of road accidents but also of anti-slug pellets or attacks by cats.
In the first wave of this survey, this summer, more than 900 people collected nearly 5,000 fingerprints.
A chubby baby hand with four fingers
NGO teams and Muséum researchers have created a method for the general public to follow. First step, make or acquire your "hedgehog tunnel" Wooden, plastic, opaque and solid, it can be triangular or rectangular but must be a meter long. Some cat food and non-toxic ink in the center of the passage; sheets of white paper that line the floor. And voila, just set this "trap" in the evening
(Editor's note: because the hedgehog is a nocturnal animal)
in his garden, a wood, a cemetery ... before picking up the clues. “The hedgehog print is easy to recognize, it looks like a chubby baby hand with four fingers,” smiles Marjorie Poitevin.
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When in doubt, a Facebook group allows you to ask questions or share your findings.
The tunnel must be stationed in the same place five nights in a row and the operation repeated every season for several years.
“You need a little rigor but nothing too complicated.
Otherwise the data collected cannot be used ”, insists Marjorie Poitevin, who recalls that if no hedgehog passes“ it is not a failure but valuable information for scientists ”.