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Hedgehogs and garden fences
Our hedgehogs are in massive decline. That is why many people do not even see as many dead hedgehogs in roads anymore, quite simply there are less of them to kill. Hedgehogs not being seen in many gardens due to concrete fence panels was an article I wrote some time ago that is proving to be a popular article. In it I said that I was looking at some ideas I had to help with this problem and I would write an article about what ideas I had. This is that article and this is my possible solution!
Hedgehog barriers, a typical garden fence panel with concrete base
No matter how they hard they try, this fence panel restricts movement and therefore food supplies and even making it difficult to find a mate for our dwindling numbers of hedgehogs.
Hedgehog friendly fence panel, my solution to this problem
This simple solution may well help hedgehogs to navigate much larger areas and gardens by using the above fence panel in place of the usual concrete base panel. If more people could do this we may well see more hedgehogs in our gardens! It may need two people to undertake this task but you will see how easy it is.
Hedgehog friendly fence panel, easily made, easy to replace concrete fence panel
Pull out the wooden fence panel. The hardest part is removing the concrete fence panel. I used a sharp hand saw to cut out the height of the hole and scored across the top of these cuts, snapping off the little pieces of the fence panel and hey, you have a hedgehog friendly fence.
Hedgehog friendly fence panel allows free movement from garden to garden of hedgehogs, frogs, toads, newts, etc.
My wildlife friendly next door neighbour wholeheartedly agreed with my suggestion, but could not use the concrete fence panel! Anybody want a concrete fence panel?!!
Go to Hedgehog Street http://www.hedgehogstreet.org/
and read lots more information about hedgehogs and how to help them, become a ‘hedgehog champion’ or get a free information pack.
Besides looking at helping hedgehogs, I teach, I design and develop useful solutions to help wildlife , all with educational opportunities and real life practical applications…… such as a bumblebee nest box, solitary bee box, wormeries and worm towers.
Read more articles about the bumblebee nest box
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
George – this is some ingenious DIY! It wouldn’t take much to improve opportunities for our wildlife, if only we could fight our anthropocentric ways. I doubt the gardens of many new-build properties have very permeable fences, for example. At least you have shown that residents can take things into their own hands. Keep up the good work!
Thanks Henry, yes people can easily do this simple improvement to their fences and help wildlife including frogs, toads newts etc. That’s why I put the link on re the fence retailers!
I had a wooden fence, have grown a hedge in front of it, so now there are no panels, have taken them out
Good for you, best option in my humble opinion! Especially if it is a holly, hawthorn hedge! Cheers George
Another factor – the lack of home composting, as people leave it to councils to collect green waste, so gardens get a one-layer of ecology instead of the myriad of levels you get when you let things rot.
That is a very true comment and another nail in the coffin for our ever decreasing number of hedgehogs. Depriving them of potential food resources and possible resting places does nt help their cause at all