Big Hedgehog Map records

Quality Control

As the hedgehog is an easily identified species, records were only excluded if the location details were not clear or obviously incorrect. Records are submitted voluntarily by members of the public with a wide range of expertise. Sightings were not verified although the risk of misidentification is low for this species. The dataset should not be regarded as having a comprehensive geographical coverage, record distribution is likely to be biased towards populated areas. The dataset has been checked using the NBN record cleaner and as a result erroneous grid references were corrected or removed

Method steps

1. Data were captured via a public-participation online map. Volunteers submitted records of any hedgehogs observed (dead or alive) using an online form.

UK-wide. As the dataset was generated by volunteers and hedgehogs are most commonly observed in people’s gardens or on roads the occurrence of records is likely to be biased towards populated areas. Data were submitted using a marker on a Google map.