HEDGEHOGS are one of our most recognisable and welcome garden visitors, but it’s a prickly time for these loveable characters who are disappearing at an alarming rate.

Now The People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES) and the British Hedgehog Preservation Society (BHPS) are appealing to Huddersfield people to take part in a new wildlife survey to help determine whether climate change is having an impact on hedgehog numbers.

Last year the charities published The State of Britain’s Hedgehogs, an independent study which confirmed evidence from eight existing UK wildlife surveys that hedgehog populations have plummeted by at least a quarter over the last decade.

ŠThe decline of the species is attributed to a number of environmental factors, but with more extreme weather fluctuations recorded in recent seasons, it’s thought climate change could be a factor.

Britain’s foremost expert on hedgehogs, Dr Pat Morris, formerly of Royal Holloway University of London, said: “Mild weather can delay hedgehogs entering into hibernation or elicit premature awakening, impacting on the creature’s fat reserves and breeding times and consequently affecting the long-term survival of the species.”

PTES and BHPS hope that with the help of the public they can identify any changes in the timing of waking hedgehogs since initial research 40 years ago.

The information gathered will be used to help scientists understand the hedgehog’s life cycle better, including hibernation behaviour which is an energy saving strategy when food is scarce.

The charities are asking members of the public to record their sightings of hedgehogs as they start to emerge in spring after hibernation. The easy-to-do survey starts tomorrow, February 1, 2012 and runs until August.

It can be completed online. If you are interested in taking part, sign-up for the survey at www.hedgehogstreet.org.