Badgering Hedgehogs
Drop in hedgehog roadkill could spell trouble for population - Telegraph
Wildlife watchers are concerned about a reduction in the number of hedgehogs killed on the country’s roads which they fear may indicate an overall drop in the animal’s population.
Strangely the People’s Trust for Endangered Species. which did the roadkill count didn't mention the reason for the decline of Mrs Tiggywinkle: -
Farmers blame badgers for killing off hedgehogs - Nature, Environment - The Independent
Research carried out by Government scientists and flagged up by farmers pressing for the badger cull found a direct link between areas where large numbers of badgers were spotted and those where few hedgehogs were seen foraging in the open.
An older paper from 1994 also makes the same point:
The abundance of hedgehogs varied in direct relation to the density of badger setts as a single variable. Absence of hedgehogs from all but a few isolated pockets in a site was predicted at densities of =2.27 badger setts per 10 km2
And again in 2006 - The present study concords with results from previous surveys
and experimental studies, which found a strong negative spatial relationship
between hedgehogs and badgers