Connect with us

Oxford News

New study suggests ultrasound could help save hedgehogs

Published

on


Dr Rasmussen added: “Our novel results revealed that European hedgehogs are designed to, and can, perceive a broad ultrasonic range. A fascinating question now is whether they use ultrasound to communicate with each other, or to detect prey – something we have already begun investigating.”

Lead researcher Assistant Professor Sophie Lund Rasmussen, Wildlife Conservation Research Unit and Department of Biology.

The European hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) is one of our best-loved mammals, but populations are in grave decline with the species being newly classed as “near threatened” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature in 2024. A major cause of hedgehog deaths is road traffic accidents, which are thought to kill up to one in three hedgehogs in local populations.

A new study now suggests that ultrasound repellers could be used to deter hedgehogs from roads, reducing the number killed by cars. Up to now, it was unknown whether hedgehogs could hear this range.

Lead researcher Assistant Professor Sophie Lund Rasmussen (Wildlife Conservation Research Unit/Department of Biology, University of Oxford and University of Copenhagen) said: ‘Having discovered that hedgehogs can hear in ultrasound, the next stage will be to find collaborators within the car industry to fund and design sound repellents for cars. If our future research shows that it proves possible to design an effective device to keep hedgehogs away from cars, this could have a significant impact in reducing the threat of road traffic to the declining European hedgehog.’

Dr Sophie Lund Rasmussen. Credit: Joan Ostenfeldt.

In the study, researchers at the University of Oxford collaborated with colleagues in Denmark to test the auditory brainstem response of 20 rehabilitated hedgehogs from Danish wildlife rescue centres. This method uses small electrodes placed on the animals to record electrical signals travelling between the inner ear and the brain, while short bursts of sounds are played through a small loudspeaker.

The electrodes detected that the brainstem fired when signals were played across a range of 4-85 kHz, with a peak sensitivity around 40 kHz. This demonstrates that hedgehogs can hear in the ultrasound range (which starts at frequencies greater than 20 kHz), up to at least 85 kHz. After being checked by a veterinarian after the experiments, the hedgehogs were released back into the wild on the following night.

The team also carried out high-resolution micro-CT scans of a dead hedgehog (which had been euthanised after being critically injured by a rat trap). The scans were used to build an interactive 3D model of the hedgehog’s ear, revealing features never seen before. The model showed that hedgehogs have very small, dense middle-ear bones and a partly fused joint between the eardrum and the first of these bones. This makes the whole chain of bones stiffer, helping it pass very high-pitched sounds efficiently – a hallmark of animals, such as echolocating bats, that can hear ultrasound.

Infographic of study findings showing the hearing range of hedgehogs and how ultrasound repellers on a car could work to deter hedgehogs from roads.Infographic of the study’s findings. Credit: Public Affairs Directorate, University of Oxford, and Getty Images.

These scans also revealed that hedgehogs have a small stapes (the smallest middle-ear bone that connects the chain of ear bones to the inner ear’s fluid-filled cochlea). A smaller, lighter stapes can vibrate more quickly, enabling it to transmit high-frequency sound waves. The cochlea was also found to be relatively short and compact, enabling it to better process ultrasonic vibrations.

Diagram of hedgehog ear bones showing very small, dense middle-ear bones. Model of hedgehog ear bones. Credit: Rasmussen et al 2026.

The results suggest that it would be possible to design ultrasonic repellents that can be heard by hedgehogs, but not humans or pets.* If proved effective, these could potentially be used to deter hedgehogs from roads and other potential threats, such as robotic lawnmowers and garden strimmers.

Co-author Professor David Macdonald (Wildlife Conservation Research Unit/Department of Biology, University of Oxford) said: ‘It is especially exciting when research motivated by conservation leads to a fundamental new discovery about a species biology which, full circle, in turn offers a new avenue for conservation. The critical question now is whether the hedgehogs respond to ultrasound in ways that might reduce the risks of collisions with robotic lawnmowers or even cars.’

The study was a collaboration between the University of Oxford, The Natural History Museum Denmark at University of Copenhagen, City Dyreklinik (Copenhagen), Aarhus University, Aarhus University Hospital, University of Southern Denmark.

The study ‘Hearing and anatomy of the ear of the European hedgehog Erinaceus europaeus’ has been published in Biology Letters.

For more information about this story or republishing this content, please contact [email protected]

*Humans hear in the range of 20-20,000 Hz, dogs 67- 45,000 Hz, and cats 45-65,000 Hz.



Source link

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Oxford News

Katy Perry forced to cancel gig ahead of Blenheim Festival

Published

on



The 41-year-old pop icon was due to perform at Werchter Boutique festival in Belgium last night, Saturday, June 28, when the event was unexpectedly cut short.

The festival’s committee decided to end the day’s performances early, at 9pm just after a set from Pitbull, due to a weather forecast of ‘severe thunderstorms from midnight onwards at the earliest’ and a government warning.

READ MORE: Jeremy Clarkson’s pub staff ‘walk out after many problems’

Perry wrote on Instagram: “Sadly my set at Werchter Boutique tonight can’t happen due to a government mandated cancellation because of the incoming inclement weather and crowd safety concerns.

“I was backstage at the show in the middle of hair and makeup when this news was delivered, and they gave me no choice.

“I am just as unhappy as you are. Unfortunately this is beyond my control, but the safety of all 55,000 of you always comes first and foremost.”

The performance was due to mark the popstar’s return to the one-day event held in Belgium’s Festivalpark for the first time in more than 15 years.

READ MORE: Sara Cox in new venture as UK charity collapses with £430k owed

Perry added: “I am sorry I can’t change the weather, and even sorrier that all of us can’t be together tonight. I was looking forward to being back after 17 years, I was even gonna wear the same outfit from that 2009 show again. I love you all, and please get home safe.”

It comes just a week before the star’s next scheduled festival appearance, at the brand-new Blenheim Festival in Wodostock, Oxfordshire, where she is due to perform on July 4.

The current forecast for that date is sunny skies and temperatures in the mid-20s.





Source link

Continue Reading

Oxford News

BBOWT shares tips for helping wild bees this summer

Published

on



CAN you imagine summer without the sight of bumblebees buzzing from flower to flower, or a summer lunch without juicy tomatoes or strawberries?

If we don’t help our wild bees, this could be a glimpse of the future.

Our bees are in trouble.

Bees pollinate flowers, but also many of our favourite food crops, equivalent to every third mouthful of food we eat.

But they’re losing the habitat and plants they need to survive.

In the countryside, 97 per cent of lowland meadow has already been lost and the dramatic decrease in suitable habitats isn’t just confined to rural areas.

Gardens used to act as ‘green corridors’ for wildlife to move around towns and cities, and into and out of urban areas, but are increasingly being paved over or even covered with fake grass – with no real plants at all.

Helping bees is easy though.

Anyone can take action to help wild bees whether you have a wall for vertical planting, window box, or back garden.

It’s easy to plant a bee haven and fun choosing between bee-friendly beauties like borage, foxglove and honeysuckle.

There are 15 million gardens in the UK.

Put together they cover an area that’s seven times the size of the Isle of Wight.

If we all made our gardens more bee-friendly it would have a huge impact on our wild bees.

So, what should you plant in your garden?

Bees need a supply of pollen and nectar throughout the year, from late winter/early spring when some emerge from their winter hibernation right through until the end of the year.

Plant a selection of perennials, such as bergamot, globe thistle and knapweeds, for pollen through the summer.

These will provide bees with food year after year.

Add a few annuals each year, such as borage, cornflower and sunflower for variety.

Later in the autumn, hebe and ivy provide food when summer plants have gone to seed.

Then make sure you’ve got a few winter-flowering crocuses and hellebores to help bees as they emerge on warmer winter or early spring days in need of food after their winter hibernation.

Did you know there are around 250 species of bee in the UK?

Just one species of bee, the honeybee, actually makes honey.

Then there are bumblebees, which are familiar to most of us, and many different kinds of solitary bee.

Solitary bees are fantastic pollinators for our garden plants.

They don’t live in colonies, but instead the females make their own nest without any ‘workers’ to help them.

Some make their nests in gaps in the walls of old buildings or dig holes in bare ground (look for small piles of earth with a tiny hole in the middle).

You can help some species of solitary bee in your garden by providing a ‘bee hotel’.

Cut lengths of old bamboo and tie together, or drill long holes in old pieces of wood.

Hang somewhere sunny and sheltered and, in time, the bees will move in.

The exposed cliffs at BBOWT’s Dry Sandford Pit nature reserve near Abingdon are a haven for many types of solitary bee, which burrow into the soft, sandy layers.

Look for the ‘honeycomb’ of tiny holes.

You may see the UK’s newest bumblebee in your garden – the tree bumblebee.

These were first recorded here in 2001 but they’ve now spread throughout much of England and Wales.

They have a distinctive ginger-coloured back (thorax) and black and white abdomen.

Some make their homes in old bird nest boxes as they prefer to nest above the ground.

Help ensure our bees’ survival by making your garden bee-friendly this summer.

You’ll be making a real difference to our bees and helping to ensure our summer strawberries are here to stay.

Find out more about bees and how to help them at bbowt.org.uk/different-kinds-bees.





Source link

Continue Reading

Oxford News

Buckland Primary School Weins Homes Badbury Green village

Published

on



Year Six pupils from Buckland Primary School visited Wain Homes’ Badbury Green site to learn about the housebuilding process and future career opportunities.

During the visit, students explored the stages of construction, the importance of green spaces, and the wide variety of roles available in the industry.

James Stevens, class teacher at Buckland Primary School, said: “Thank you to the Wain Homes team for giving our children an enjoyable and informative experience in a way they could easily understand.

“The children now have knowledge of how the homes they live in are built and some of the careers they may be interested in as they get older. They particularly enjoyed looking round the show homes and having a go at laying some bricks.”

The pupils toured two show homes and tried their hand at bricklaying.

A time capsule, filled with children’s notes describing life in 2026, was also buried during the visit, set to be be opened in 2076.

Tim Lund, regional sales director at Wain Homes, said: “We hope the visit inspired some of the children to consider construction as a future career. They were eager to learn and now understand each stage of the process of building a modern energy efficient home.”

Wain Homes is building 125 energy-efficient homes at the site.





Source link

Continue Reading

Trending