Hedgehog Highways Help Hedgehogs! Really!

Hedgehog highways can really help hedgehogs

By making a hedgehog highway and asking your neighbours to do the same, hedgehogs can freely roam from one garden to the next much more easily than having to exit through the same hole and walk around possibly into the road just to find another garden in which they can forage. This is all wasted time and possibly dangerous for a hungry hedgehog!

Hedgehog uses the highway to gather summer nesting material

We made a hole underneath the concrete gravel board to allow hedgehogs to enter from this area. Not only was it used to enter the hedgehog used it to leave the garden, gather nesting material which is carried back to make a summer nest under the decking. How cool is that? If you want to encourage hedgehogs to make a summer nest in your own garden, Reeve states that – Gardeners are advised to leave fallen leaves within their garden rather than disposing of them off-sites as these provide suitable nesting material for hedgehogs during the summer.

Concrete Gravel Boards are barriers to hedgehogs

According to Hedgehog Street, hedgehogs can travel about one mile every night in search of food and a mate. “We now know that one of the main reasons why hedgehogs are declining in Britain is because our fences and walls are becoming more and more secure, reducing the amount of land available to them.”

Let’s get our gardens linked up! It works!

Useful information

Ten tips for encouraging hedgehogs

British Hedgehog Preservation Society  offers help and advice for sick, injured or orphaned hedgehogs

State of Britain’s Hedgehogs 2018 Report

BTO Research “UK Hedgehog Datasets and their potential for long-term monitoring”

Read Hedgehogs and garden fences – a possible solution?

Hedgehog Observation Feeding Station

Nesting Patterns of European hedgehogs under northern conditions Download PDF

Reeve et al (1985) Hedgehog summer nest construction use

The Peoples Trust for Endangered species provides a list of hedgehog related papers here

 

“All my articles, research, and videos, available free, are funded by my teaching and sales of award-winning bumblebee nest boxes, solitary bee boxes, and other wildlife-friendly products. Please help by spreading the word and forwarding this link to your friends and colleagues. https://nurturing-nature.co.uk  Thank you!” George Pilkington

With special thanks to K Newman for his help, enthusiasm, film, and equipment!