The key details of each project are outlined below. If you need further information, please email us using the relevant email address in each section.

Background

A key risk factor associated with the use of rodenticides is the degree to which hedgehogs share the same garden space with rats and/or mice. At present, however, there is relatively little information on this aspect of hedgehog ecology, nor on what sorts of garden features attract different mammal species. Furthermore, some features may favour individual species (e.g., small mammals such as mice, shrews and voles may favour gardens with lots of ground cover), whereas others may attract multiple species (e.g., both rodents and hedgehogs may be attracted to spilt bird food). 

In addition, patterns of garden use may also vary over time; this is especially true for some rodent species, as people are likely to control them as soon as they notice them. This means that rodents and/or hedgehogs are likely to be affected by within-garden characteristics, as well as habitats outside the garden, and interactions between different species. To disentangle all these issues requires a large dataset, and this is where we need your help. 

What will you do? 

We are asking for volunteers to record the presence/absence of different garden mammals for 1-2 weeks in late Summer 2026 and/or in Winter 2026-2027.

Volunteers can use their own trail cameras or other security cameras. For people living close to Reading who do not have their own cameras, we may be able to lend you one for this study.

To facilitate detection and enable us to compare our results with a recent study from the Netherlands, you will need to place a small can of sardines in front of the camera, with a small hole to allow the juices to leak out slowly. The camera will need to run day and night because of differences in daily activity between species.

Who can take part?

Anyone living in mainland England, Scotland or Wales with access to a garden and a motion-activated camera or security camera can take part. A limited number of cameras may also be available to borrow for participants living near Reading. 

You do not need to have hedgehogs or rodents in your garden to participate, as gardens where these species are absent are just as important for the study.

It is also fine if you do not know if any mammals visit your garden at all- this information is valuable too.

Ideally, participants will take part in both the summer and winter surveys, but completing just one survey is absolutely fine.   

How to get in touch

Please email us at ratsandhogs@reading.ac.uk or click the link below to find out more or volunteer. 

Background

Scavenging is a common route of accidental rodenticide poisoning. This occurs when poisoned rats and mice die above ground, and scavengers consume the carcasses, inadvertently consuming the rodenticide toxins as well. Many urban scavengers, both mammals and birds, are known to eat rodents, so rodenticides can potentially indirectly affect a wide range of species.

Although hedgehogs primarily eat invertebrates such as beetles, they are known to occasionally scavenge animal carcasses, including rodents. However, we do not know how important such behaviour might be as a risk of rodenticide poisoning in hedgehogs. For example, it might be the case that any rat or mouse carcasses are removed very quickly by more common scavengers, such as foxes, cats, gulls and corvids (crows, magpies, etc.), and possibly even birds of prey such as red kites.

To investigate this, we want to conduct a field experiment in Reading to record which diurnal and nocturnal scavenger species remove food baits, and how quickly, to estimate the potential risk to hedgehogs.

What will you do? 

We are asking for volunteers in Reading, Berkshire, to use trail cameras to monitor the fate of rat and mouse carcasses placed in your front and/or back garden during late Summer/early Autumn 2026 and in Winter 2026-2027.

These carcasses will be purchased from pet shops where they are sold as food, e.g. reptiles, so they will not contain any harmful substances.

Each carcass will need to be monitored for up to 72 hours (but they are likely to disappear before that).

Volunteers can use their own trail cameras, or we may be able to supply one for you (with associated batteries and SD cards), although this cannot be guaranteed.

If you use your own camera, we will give instructions on how to get your photos to us.

Who can take part?

As we will need to provide volunteers with mouse and rat carcasses for this field experiment, we have to confine the study to Reading, Berkshire, although we may need to use houses from the surrounding area as well to achieve the required sample size.

How to get in touch

Please email us at urbanscavengers@reading.ac.uk or click the link below to find out more or volunteer. 

Background

When using rodenticides outside, both professional pest controllers and private citizens must, by law, place the toxic baits inside bait boxes to reduce the risk of non-target species, such as hedgehogs, accessing the poison. However, bait boxes only work if animals cannot fit through the entrance hole, which must be large enough for adult rats to enter. 

Unfortunately, small hedgehogs and invertebrates such as slugs can get into the boxes. This means that hedgehogs may be exposed to rodenticides in two ways. First, they could consume the bait directly if they are small enough to get into the box. Second, they could eat invertebrates that have entered the box, fed on the bait, and then left, only to be eaten by a hedgehog. 

To investigate these routes, this project consists of three related studies. You can participate in one, two, or all of them.

(a) To determine the number of slugs using bait boxes, we will ask you to set up one or more boxes containing a food bait (e.g. peanut butter) mixed with a biomarker in your garden, after which we will then catch the slugs around the box to see how many had visited the box.

(b) Assuming that slugs do enter rodent bait boxes, one way to limit the risk to hedgehogs would be to minimise the number of slugs entering. Given the long-running 'war' between gardeners and slugs, several ad hoc approaches have been trialled to deter slugs from eating their plants. Consequently, we want to see if such methods are (or are not) effective at helping reduce the number of slugs visiting.

(c) To determine how frequently hedgehogs and other vertebrate animals enter bait boxes, we will use footprint tracking plates inside rodent bait boxes placed in residential gardens. These are small plastic boards which use a non-toxic ink to record the footprints of any animals that enter the box.

What will you do? 

These three studies will be conducted during Summer 2026. You can take part in as many as you want.

Study 1

We want to estimate the number of slugs entering rodent bait boxes over a three-day sampling period. To do this, we will place a non-toxic food bait mixed with a harmless biomarker inside the box; any slug that goes into the box and eats the food can then be detected using a UV light. 

After the three-day sampling period, we will then catch the slugs in and around the bait box using beer traps, and then count how many have been in the box itself.

Study 2

As before, we will estimate the number of slugs entering bait boxes over a three-day sampling period, but you will be randomly allocated to one of four treatments, three of which are designed to stop slugs in their tracks! 

The four treatments are: 

1) Coffee grounds 

2) Spearmint oil

3) Copper tape

4) Control group (no methods used to stop slugs entering). 

In each case, the box will be filled with beer to attract the slugs to the box. At the end of the sampling period, we will count the number of slugs in the box.

Study 3

You will record hedgehog visits to one or more bait boxes placed in your garden, set up as though they were being used to control rats/mice.

Each box will contain a footprint tracking plate, which you will need to check regularly and replace if necessary. The bait box will be baited with a nontoxic bait. All equipment will be provided. Ideally, volunteers will take part for several weeks to help us monitor changes in hedgehog behaviour throughout the year. 

Who can take part

Anyone in Reading or nearby can take part in one, two or all three of the experiments.

All you need to take part is to have access to a private garden; all equipment will be supplied. 

How to get in touch

Please email us at slugsandhogs@reading.ac.uk or click the link below to find out more or volunteer.