Dear All,

First, I just want to thank Jacqueline Hadland, Rose Sewell and Jeffrey Smith for stepping in to help the Hedgehog Highways Facebook Group as moderators - with over 9,000 members it was becoming increasingly difficult for me to manage the sometimes heated debates that erupt. We are all there because we love hedgehogs, just sometimes that love clashes with a different opinion ... but now we have skilled and attentive moderators I can relax!!!

Not really! Too much to do. And this is just a quick announcement - a while ago I told you about the Hedgehogs After Dark project being run by Hedgehog Street. In this we are asking people to log their sightings of hedgehog behaviour in your gardens to help us get a better idea of what hedgehogs are using them for. Some people are able to capture this with trail cameras, others have just made a note and sent it in.

The project ends this weekend - so please get your information in as soon as you can ... and there is the added incentive - a rather lovely trail camera, donated by NatureSpy, is being offered as a prize to one lucky person ... it will be luck! Your name will be drawn at random from a list of all those who have joined in ... Here is how to get involved.

I am often asked which is the best camera to use for hedgehogs - well the good folk at NatureSpy have written a guide to help you decide. 

And just before I go (about to do an interview with BBC Berkshire and then a lecture for Derbyshire Wildlife Trust) - I have been delighted at the work some of you have done in contacting and working on developers ... your local insight is crucial. I am happy to help with letters and information - but there is no way I can keep up with all the developments around the country - and it is only if the people working locally to you know that people (lots of people) care about hedgehogs, that they will do anything about them! So - keep an eye out for developers plotting to transform a field ... and tell them to put in a highway!

Good luck with the Hedgehogs After Dark competition - if one of you wins, let me know!