Hedgehogs!

Yes, they are cute aren’t they. While we do not have ground nesting birds like on the braided rivers and sea shore, they do put pressure on the invertebrate population, which include tree weta and stick insects and things like our native skinks. From the bi-annual tracking tunnel monitoring they show up in considerable numbers. One Gully neighbour has trapped over eight in only a few months. Check out this link

. to an article by Chelsea McGaw from the Forest and Bird magazine. To quote Tom Goodman in this article: ”Hedgehogs are the lawnmowers of invertebrate life. Probably the worst thing about hedgehogs is they pick a patch of real estate and spend their entire life walking around in circles mowing up bugs.” (photo- Predator Free NZ)