Portreath School pupils recently had a visit from Branston Pickles the hedgehog and Gary Zamit from Feadon Farm Wildlife Centre as part of a scheme to help Portreath go hedgehog friendly and help stop the decline in hedgehogs.

Gary took Branston Pickles to assembly to give pupils the chance to get closer to the UK’s only spiny mammal. The assembly marked the start of the challenge accepted by local Cornwall Councillor Joyce Duffin to encourage better habitats for hedgehogs across Cornwall and to launch this she wanted to help Portreath become Cornwall’s first hedgehog friendly village.

Gary also gave the Portreath pupils top tips on how they can stop the decline in hedgehogs by making their garden hedgehog friendly. These tips include letting a bit of the garden stay wild, keeping the garden free of netting or garden refuse and not using garden pesticides which poison hedgehogs and other wildlife.

The work in Portreath to support hedgehogs is part of a larger initiative called Operation Hedgehog which is about working with residents and businesses to make Cornwall a healthier home for hedgehogs. Operation Hedgehog was set up by Cornwall Biodiversity Initiative (CBI) and the Cornwall & Isles of Scilly Local Nature Partnership (CIoS LNP) to address the decline in hedgehogs in Cornwall.

The Portreath launch follows the successful Operation Hedgehog event at Mount Pleasant Eco Park last November when around 100 people went along to hear hedgehog experts talk about hedgehog biology and ecology.

Ms Duffin, Cornwall councillor for Mount Hawke and Portreath and portfolio holder for housing and environment, said: “I’m delighted that Feadon Farm Wildlife Centre visited the school and took part in launching this initiative to help Portreath become Cornwall’s first hedgehog friendly village.

"I encourage everyone to make small changes to their gardens where they can so that we can create better environments for hedgehogs to live. It’s really important that we support Operation Hedgehog to help stop the numbers of hedgehogs declining both in Portreath and across Cornwall.”

As part of the initiative to support Portreath go hedgehog friendly, an information leaflet explaining how people can help was given to pupils and delivered to all households in Portreath. Follow-up talks for adults in Portreath about how they can help hedgehogs are also planned.

For more information and details of how you can help, including how to get your village or town to get hedgehog friendly, email operation.hedgehog@cornwall.gov.uk. Generic help-a-hedgehog posters for town and parish council or community notice boards are also available on request.

If you see a hedgehog during the day, or find one which is sick or injured, contact Prickles and Paws on 01637 831299.