The much-loved hedgehog was the subject of its own Action Plan in the original Action for Nature. It gained that status via the ‘popular vote’ as a locally valued species. For many years a ‘hedgehog map’ was taken to biodiversity events and people encouraged to put a pin into the map to record where they had recently seen hedgehogs in RCT. A very unscientific exercise, but sufficient to show a sprinkle of records throughout urban and sub-urban RCT. Nationally the ‘Review of British Mammals’ described hedgehogs as having a ‘patchy distribution’ in Britain. Our wet, mild climate should suit hedgehogs, providing perfect conditions for slugs and snails (major food source). Hedgehog numbers also appear to be affected by badger predation and population densities are lower where badger densities are high. Badgers are not common in RCT, and this may bode well for hedgehogs. There certainly appears no lack of road killed hedgehogs, and if that is a guide to abundance, we can at least be confident that hedgehogs are still present in reasonable numbers in RCT. Gardeners can help hedgehogs in suburban areas and actions are included in the ‘How can I help?’ section.