There was another flat hedgehog in the road outside my house yesterday. That's the second in about a month. Obviously, I have no idea how many hedgehogs there are in our local community or how widespread it is, but it seems to me that that sort of level of road deaths must be very damaging. Having said that, the road has always been very busy. Southend is effectively bisected north-south by the railway and the pedestrianised high street, and East Street is one of only 5 points at which this barrier can be crossed. No matter what time the camera gets tripped, in the 20 seconds of video that follows, you nearly always hear traffic noise from the road about 30 yards away. I don't know that it has got any busier recently, but the hedgehog population must have survived here pretty well for ever.
I saw another flat hedgehog a few days ago in Great Wakering, a village about 4 miles from here. Clearly they must also have a community. I wonder whether the hedgehog population stretches all over the SE Essex peninsula. Certainly my brother, who lives about 15 miles away, nearer Billericay, tells me he hasn't seen any sign of hedgehogs for many years.