Local services
Hedgehog fences and warning signs will protect the spiky four-legged animals in Debrecen. In the city’s Green Codex, a special program serves to protect hedgehogs, which frequently appear, because these animals are useful members of the urban ecosystem.
In Debrecen, so-called eastern hedgehogs live freely in almost every part of the city. For this reason, there are already “hedgehog garages’’ in several places in the city. These small structures serve as a hiding place and a winter shelter for the hedgehogs from autumn to spring, and in the summer they can safely give birth to their offspring here.
The Hedgehog (Sün) Program is also included in Debrecen’s environmental protection program and in the city’s Green Codex. As part of this, in addition to the installation of hedgehog garages, warning signs are placed on the roads to reduce the number of people being run over.
‘It is an animal that is mainly active in the twilight hours and from then on it searches for food all night, but they are not fast moving. A lot of hedgehogs are run over by cars, because when the hedgehog steps onto the road and a car comes, the hedgehogs are almost mesmerised by its light, and they completely freeze. In such cases, unfortunately, many hedgehogs are run over, ’ Zoltán Váradi, the Head of the Natural Reserve pointed out.
Since hedgehogs mainly feed on insects, earthworms and snails, they play an important role in biological protection against pests.
Source: Dehir.hu
