Where have all the slugs gone?

I have a small compost bucket outside the kitchen door where I put out all the peelings, egg-shells, toilet roll middles and any other bits and pieces that will go into our compost system up in the garden. At this time of year, in fact even in the winter unless it's really frosty, when clearing out the scraps last thing at night I expect to meet a whole host of slimey and slithery creatures - slugs and snails of all colours and sizes. I also see toads and frogs who come for a meal of slug or two. (Isn't the food chain wonderful!). But this year there's hardly any slugs, a few snails only. I haven't seen many in the vegetable garden either, although the pak choi have a few holes.
It was a very dry winter, athough mild, so maybe they didn't over-winter well. As a gardener I should be pleased, but I'm concerned about the creatures that rely on these slimey invertebrates for food - hedgehogs, toads, frogs even foxes when pushed. We don't get many hedgehogs here but we usually get loads of frogs and toads (clue in the name of our cottage!). There are very few this year and despite the early courtships (http://froggartscottagegarden.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/spring-has-sprung.html) I haven't seen any spawn in the pond, although a neighbour saw some in the stream a few weeks ago.

Hedgehogs

We've seen no hedghogs here since 2007. One of those we rescued from a post-hole. The little chap had fallen in and couldn't get out. More recently, the only hedghogs I've seen locally have been squashed on the road - and those have not been so many. Froggarts Cottage is surrounded by a field used to graze cattle with old hedges all around - ideal habitat for hedgehogs one would think. A friend gave us a "Hog House" for Christmas a few years ago which we put by the hedge and covered with leaves but it's not been used.


A Prickly Affair by Hugh Warwick

This is a fascinating little book from a dedicated hedgehog researcher A Prickly Affair by Hugh Warwick  Really interesting. Apparently one of the main predators of hedgehogs is badgers. There's certainly badgers around here, there are sets along the hedges a couple of fields and a main road away but I've never seen any in the adjacent fields.

A piece on BBC News interested me both from the hedgehog and the environment change point of view.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-16597723

"Hedgehog numbers fell in the last 50 years, largely due to land use change. From an estimated 30 million in the 1950s, the UK population shrank to about 1.5 million in 1995, and has almost certainly fallen further since then."

The climate thing is interesting. Last year was definitely drier and warmer than previous years despite the very cold spell at the start of the year. Each of the 5 years we've been at Froggarts Cottage have been quite different weather-wise so it's difficult to spot a trend. For a couple of years we logged when we planted vegtables and when and how much we harvested. I think we should be a bit more diligent and note when fruit blossom opens and fruit sets and so on. Otherwise we're relying on our imperfect memories.

There's a link on the BBC story above to a site http://www.naturescalendar.org.uk where people can log sightings such as "first snowdrop", "first elder flowers".