The RSPCA has launched a project to look into ways of helping hedgehogs survive the challenging winter months in the wild.
The charity said hundreds of hedgehogs were brought to its wildlife centres at this time of year in a dehydrated, hungry and cold state, with the recent freezing conditions making the difficulties they faced event greater.
The new project will explore hedgehog hibernation patterns in a bid to help animal welfare groups know how best to take care of them over the winter months and boost their chances of survival.
The study, carried out in partnership between RSPCA Mallydams Wood Wildlife Centre in Hastings and the University of Reading, will follow more than 40 hedgehogs in the wild, using tiny transmitters to track and analyse behaviour, location and sleep patterns, to see how well they cope.
Although there had been previous research done on hedgehogs in summer, RSPCA said it was the first time information about their winter hibernation had been recorded.
Mallydams Wood wildlife manager Richard Thompson said: “We are all really excited about this project.
“It could make quite a difference to what we know about hedgehogs’ winter habits and so help us with how we care for them.
“The animals typically have a bit of a tough time during the winter, especially when there are such treacherous extremes as there have been recently, but there really is not that much information out there about them – this kind of study has never been done before.”
Hedgehogs hibernate around late November, early December and rehabilitated animals are normally released up until then so that they can enjoy their long sleep in their natural habitat.
However, autumn hoglets, or those born in a second litter, can be too small to hibernate at this time as they don’t have enough weight to draw on and last them through a whole winter.
The charity said such animals were typically kept in wildlife centres over the winter and then re-introduced to the wild in the spring, when the hibernation season is over.
The decision about whether and when to bring the animals into wildlife centres is usually based on the hedgehog’s weight.
The RSPCA usually recommends that if the hedgehog is under the target weight of 500 grams then it needs to come in.
Senior scientific officer Adam Grogan said: “This new research should help us when advising whether hedgehogs need to brought into care by providing more information on how they survive hibernation.