Hedgehogs

:11:02. > :11:08.The house may like to know that I am pressing my fellow neighbours at the

:11:09. > :11:13.Royal naval hospital in Plymouth to ensure that we can create a hedgehog

:11:14. > :11:21.friendly community and increase the number of hedgehogs in my

:11:22. > :11:37.constituency. I congratulate him on having this debate. On the British

:11:38. > :11:44.Hedgehog Conservation sites, we have hedgehog Day coming up. Everyone has

:11:45. > :11:51.noticed my speech before I and -- ended up making it. Through

:11:52. > :11:56.inappropriate management of the grasslands, they are major issues on

:11:57. > :12:02.which we can take action. Hedgehog friendly action when installing a

:12:03. > :12:09.new hedge, people should have a small hole so hedgehogs do not get

:12:10. > :12:16.trapped in a garden. Many people are campaigning to create hedgehog

:12:17. > :12:23.friendly neighbourhoods and I have volunteered to be one. Indeed, I am

:12:24. > :12:28.the 150th hedgehog champion from Plymouth to sign up to this

:12:29. > :12:33.excellent scheme. Madam Deputy Speaker, I am sure you were, like

:12:34. > :12:39.me, will know we can do things. You can sign up to be a hedgehog

:12:40. > :12:43.champion and the -- on the hedgehog Street website. You can report

:12:44. > :12:47.sightings of hedgehog on the hedgehog map. Although this is not a

:12:48. > :12:51.scientific survey, it is an excellent way to engage the public

:12:52. > :12:57.on this issue and I would challenge as many honourable members to sign

:12:58. > :13:05.up to this cause. I am delighted to report that later this month, on

:13:06. > :13:09.Saturday 21st of November, it is the day of the hedgehog. Hundreds of

:13:10. > :13:17.people are expected to descend on the international centre in my

:13:18. > :13:25.honourable friend, Telford's constituency. I will set up an APPG

:13:26. > :13:29.comes a we can advance the cause of these prickly characters. If any

:13:30. > :13:33.honourable or right honourable friend wishes to join with me, I

:13:34. > :13:44.will be delighted if they will contact me. On this day, the next

:13:45. > :13:48.report reviewing the surveys covering hedgehogs in urban and

:13:49. > :13:52.rural areas will be released. It must be remembered that hedgehog

:13:53. > :13:57.numbers are a good indicator of the state of the natural environment. It

:13:58. > :14:00.is why these creatures are some important to the UK's ecology.

:14:01. > :14:08.There's more to be done and that why I suggested to the chairman of the

:14:09. > :14:14.DEFRA Select Committee, that they might hold an enquiry into how we

:14:15. > :14:18.can save hedgehogs. I hope I have set out the case for hedgehogs and

:14:19. > :14:21.you will become a hedgehog supporter. Now is the time to

:14:22. > :14:34.increase the public's awareness of this plight for these prickly

:14:35. > :14:44.characters. I hope you will be delighted we are taking up this

:14:45. > :15:06.cause. Of course, I will. Minister, Rory Stewart.

:15:07. > :15:24.HE SPEAKS LATIN. I urge him to follow that example as well. I am

:15:25. > :15:30.very grateful for this intervention. He refers to the Asian variety of

:15:31. > :15:36.the hedgehog rather than their Western variety. The fox knows many

:15:37. > :15:44.things but the hedgehog knows one big thing. I am extremely pleased to

:15:45. > :15:49.be here and have the opportunity to respond to the honourable member for

:15:50. > :15:54.Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport, who has introduced this to the house

:15:55. > :16:00.that the first time. Hedgehogs have been discussed since 1566, Madam

:16:01. > :16:04.Deputy Speaker, where hedgehogs were famously raised in relation to the

:16:05. > :16:13.attribution of a bounty of tuppence for the collection of the hedgehog.

:16:14. > :16:21.It is extremely important to take on board that the hedgehog has gone

:16:22. > :16:26.through an extraordinary evolution. 1566 seems something recent but the

:16:27. > :16:31.hedgehog was around before 1566. It was around before this Parliament.

:16:32. > :16:37.The hedgehog and his ancestor narrowly missed being crushed under

:16:38. > :16:42.the foot of Tyrannosaurus rex. The hedgehog was around long before the

:16:43. > :16:46.human species. 56 million years ago, the hedgehog existed. It tells us a

:16:47. > :16:49.great deal about British civilisation, that the honourable

:16:50. > :16:54.member should raise the hedgehog in front of us. The hedgehog is a

:16:55. > :17:00.magical creature. It is a creature that appears on cylinder seals in

:17:01. > :17:09.the bent backwards on the prowl of Egyptian ships. The hedgehog is a

:17:10. > :17:12.medicinal task taken by the Romany people for baldness and it

:17:13. > :17:14.represents a symbol of the Resurrection found throughout

:17:15. > :17:20.Christian Europe. It tells us something about Britain today. That

:17:21. > :17:29.this strange animal, known in Scotland, Wales and Ireland,

:17:30. > :17:36.originally that horrid creature of the hedgehog celebrated by

:17:37. > :17:41.Shakespeare, be not seen, come not near our Faerie Queene. That great

:17:42. > :17:48.moment where Gloucester is referred to as a hedgehog. Represents a

:17:49. > :17:51.strange decline in hedgehog civilisation from this notion of

:17:52. > :17:59.this mystical terrifying creature to where it is today. I refer, of

:18:00. > :18:05.course, to my own constituent, the famous cleanliness is representative

:18:06. > :18:11.of Penrith, Mrs Tiggy Winkle. I want to be serious for a moment. The

:18:12. > :18:17.hedgehog is an important environmental indicator. Its ability

:18:18. > :18:21.to occupy 30 hectares of land, its relationship to the Highbury Naki

:18:22. > :18:28.Lum, by which I mean the hedgehog's ability to go amongst animals in the

:18:29. > :18:33.UK into a state of genuine hibernation. They goes from 240

:18:34. > :18:40.hobbies a minute to only two heartbeats minute the six months a

:18:41. > :18:47.year and it is particular -- is particular diet, is focus on grubs

:18:48. > :18:53.and beetles and the street hedgehog is a reminder that by cutting holes

:18:54. > :18:59.in the bottom of our hedges, we can create an opportunity for hedgehogs

:19:00. > :19:06.to move. It is also a bigger lesson for us in our environment. A bigger

:19:07. > :19:11.lesson in scientific humility. The hedgehog has been studied for over

:19:12. > :19:18.2000 years. The first reference to the hedgehog is with Aristotle. He

:19:19. > :19:25.is picked up by Isadora Saville in the eighth century and by another in

:19:26. > :19:29.the 18th century. It is a reminder of how we get hedgehog is wrong.

:19:30. > :19:36.Aristotle points out that the hedgehog carries battles on his

:19:37. > :19:42.spine into his nest. Isadora Saville argues the hedgehog travels with

:19:43. > :19:45.grapes and embedded on his spine. The other believes these things

:19:46. > :19:50.might have been food for the winter, but as we know today the hedgehog,

:19:51. > :19:54.hibernating as he does, is not a creature that requires to take food

:19:55. > :20:00.into his nest for the winter. Again, our belief in Britain is that the

:20:01. > :20:05.five teeth of the hedgehog represents the reaction of the

:20:06. > :20:12.sinful man to God, the five excuses that the sinful man makes to God. It

:20:13. > :20:16.is subverted by our understanding that the hedgehog does not have five

:20:17. > :20:23.teeth. The legislation introduced in this house, to my great despair that

:20:24. > :20:28.legislation introduced in 1566, which led to the bounty of tuppence

:20:29. > :20:33.on a hedgehog, was based on a misunderstanding. The idea that the

:20:34. > :20:37.hedgehog fed on the teats of a recumbent cow in able to -- to

:20:38. > :20:44.enable itself to itself on milk. It led to the death of 2 million

:20:45. > :20:48.hedgehogs over the period between 1566 and 1800, a subject that John

:20:49. > :20:54.Fleck takes forward in a poem which led, my own department, the ministry

:20:55. > :20:58.of agriculture in 1908, to issue a formal notice to farmers encouraging

:20:59. > :21:04.them not to believe that hedgehogs take milk from the teats of the

:21:05. > :21:08.recumbent cow. The hedgehogs -- hedgehog's map is too small to be

:21:09. > :21:13.able to perform this function. Before we mark our ancestors, this

:21:14. > :21:17.is a lesson for ourselves. These scientific mistakes we made in the

:21:18. > :21:23.past mistakes that we too may be mocked for in future. We barely

:21:24. > :21:30.understand this extraordinary Keech -- creature. You will see a hedgehog

:21:31. > :21:35.produce an enormous amount of saliva and throw it over is back. We don't

:21:36. > :21:43.understand why does it. We don't understand its habit of eating

:21:44. > :21:46.nation which is to say that the hedgehog hibernates during the

:21:47. > :21:55.summer as well as the winter. We don't understand this concept of

:21:56. > :21:58.eating nation. The hedgehog represents the important subject of

:21:59. > :22:06.conflict in habitats. The habitat that suits the hedgehog, as we hear,

:22:07. > :22:10.is edge land, it is hedgerow, dry land. It isn't an animal that

:22:11. > :22:16.flourishes in many of our nature reserves. It doesn't do well in

:22:17. > :22:20.peatland or dense, heavy, native woodland. The things that prey on

:22:21. > :22:28.the hedgehogs are something that we treasure. The honourable member

:22:29. > :22:35.raised the issue of the badger. Will the Minister agree with me that the

:22:36. > :22:40.success and survival of our hedgehog population is a reflection of how

:22:41. > :22:43.healthy our environment is and how sustainable it is? It is important

:22:44. > :22:50.that we look after the environment so the knock-on effect is that the

:22:51. > :22:58.hedgehog population will be looked after? This is an important point.

:22:59. > :23:08.We haven't paid much attention to this species. We have been good on

:23:09. > :23:17.looking at redshank. The hedgehog is a more challenging species to take

:23:18. > :23:23.on board. It is an indicator of a particularly good habitat. Very good

:23:24. > :23:24.as indicated for a hedgerow habitat. There are some important

:23:25. > :23:30.environmental questions raised by the hedgehog. One is the conflict

:23:31. > :23:36.with the badger. The other is the question raised by the honourable

:23:37. > :23:42.member, which is about the West top -- hedgehog in the western isles. It

:23:43. > :23:46.relates to the eggs of the Arctic turn. I give way. 1-macro I was

:23:47. > :23:50.going to raise the issue of the hedgehog in the Western Isles.

:23:51. > :23:57.Hedgehogs are a devolved matter and the honourable member isn't with us.

:23:58. > :24:02.It will be interesting to hear the comments. Scottish National Heritage

:24:03. > :24:06.are doing careful work to remove hedgehogs from the Hebrides and it

:24:07. > :24:13.will be interesting to see if the UK Government is going to support that.

:24:14. > :24:19.Things that matter to our civilisation and society, like a

:24:20. > :24:23.hedgehog, have to be in the right place. Hedgehogs in New Zealand are

:24:24. > :24:27.an extremely dangerous invasive species that have to be removed for

:24:28. > :24:32.the same reasons in Scotland that people are having to think about the

:24:33. > :24:35.control of the hedgehogs. It is no -- it doesn't matter whether you are

:24:36. > :24:43.talking about a hedgehog or an Arctic turn. More positively, what

:24:44. > :24:46.the hedgehog represents for us is an incredible symbol of citizen

:24:47. > :24:49.science. The energy which the honourable member has brought to

:24:50. > :24:57.this debate is a great example of British or English eccentricity. It

:24:58. > :25:02.is Ahmed basis of this that our habitat has been preserved. Gilbert

:25:03. > :25:12.White, the great naturalist was an immense eccentric. Most famously,

:25:13. > :25:15.she Warwick, the great inspiration of the British hedgehog preservation

:25:16. > :25:18.Society, a man who has written no less than three books on the

:25:19. > :25:24.hedgehog, man who represents somebody who talks in moving terms

:25:25. > :25:27.about staring into the eyes of the hedgehog, getting a sense of the

:25:28. > :25:32.wildness of the hedgehog from its case. Reminds us that these

:25:33. > :25:38.enthusiasts not only connect the public to nature can sustain our 25

:25:39. > :25:42.year environment programme but contribute to a scientific

:25:43. > :25:48.understanding of these animals. This is true in relation to bees,

:25:49. > :25:55.beavers, and in relation to Hugh Warwick's work on the hedgehog. I am

:25:56. > :25:59.pleased we raised the National Hedgehog Day in an intervention. We

:26:00. > :26:07.need to understand the hedgehog is a very prickly issue.

:26:08. > :26:15.The reason is that the member macro has raised the question of the

:26:16. > :26:22.hedgehog as a national symbol. -- the honourable member. In 1992 the

:26:23. > :26:26.hedgehog was used as an advertising campaign for the Conservative Party

:26:27. > :26:32.in the election, so we should pay tribute to the hedgehog's direct

:26:33. > :26:35.contribution to that victory. But I would challenge the honourable

:26:36. > :26:39.member's assertion that it should become our national symbol. I ask

:26:40. > :26:46.both sides of this House, because this is not a question that concerns

:26:47. > :26:49.only one party but all of us, do we want to have as our national symbol

:26:50. > :26:55.and animal which when confronted with danger rolls over into a little

:26:56. > :27:01.ball and puts its bikes up, do we want to have as our national symbol

:27:02. > :27:08.in -- and animal but sleeps for six months of the year. -- puts its

:27:09. > :27:17.spikes up. All we rather return to the lion. -- would we. Digest it,

:27:18. > :27:22.courageous, proud. -- Majestic. If I can finish with a little testimony

:27:23. > :27:26.to the honourable member and those innocent creatures who are

:27:27. > :27:30.hedgehogs, perhaps I can reach back not to their symbol for our nation

:27:31. > :27:38.but personable of innocence, to Thomas Hardy, he says" when the

:27:39. > :27:43.hedgehog travels furtively over the lawn, one may say, he strove that

:27:44. > :27:49.such innocent creatures should come to no harm. That he could do little

:27:50. > :27:57.for him, -- them, and there he is gone. If when hearing that they

:27:58. > :28:01.stand at the door watching, the full is that heaven that winter seas,

:28:02. > :28:07.will this thought rise on those who will meet my face no more, he was

:28:08. > :28:18.one who had an eye for these -- such mysteries?" .

:28:19. > :28:29.I was encouraging some more positive noises for the Minister... Who has

:28:30. > :28:35.just made one of the best speeches I have ever heard in this House. The

:28:36. > :28:45.question is, that this House to now adjourned. Vote-macro the ayes have

:28:46. > :28:51.it. Order! Order!