‘HEDGEHOG highways’ installed by a Warwickshire housing developer are helping the creatures get around – and residents are being encouraged to join in.
David Wilson Homes has installed the passages through garden fences and walls across its new developments to encourage native hedgehogs into local gardens.
A ‘hedgehog highway’ is created by linking up multiple gardens, usually via a small CD-case sized hole in the fence or wall. A thriving hedgehog population needs access to numerous gardens for food, shelter and mates, and these safe routes allow the creatures to come and go with ease.
The developments also contain a Hogilo, recommended by experts to provide a sturdy and waterproof home for hedgehogs seeking shelter.
Following a £1,000 donation to charity Hedgehog Street and alongside its partnership with the RSPB, the homebuilder also offered some tips for Hedgehog Awareness Week to show residents how they can help wildlife in their own gardens.
Grace Johnson, Hedgehog Officer from Hedgehog Street, says: “It’s fantastic that David Wilson Homes has pledged to create hedgehog highways in their new developments. This small action is a huge help for hedgehogs, as one of the reasons for their decline is lack of connected habitat.
“Gardens are perfect hedgehog habitats, but they need to be accessible. Small changes like this, as well as leaving out suitable food, water and providing a ‘hog house’, can really help this endangered species to fight back. We are really appreciative of David Wilson Homes’ support and hope lots of their homeowners make their gardens hedgehog havens too.”
Dominic Harman, Managing Director at David Wilson Homes Mercia, said: “We want to work closely with our customers and people across the county to ensure the British wildlife is preserved at our developments and beyond.
“It is important to remember our smaller neighbours too, and something as little as a hedgehog habitat and highway can make the world of difference.”
The developer has issued tips for anyone looking to help hedgehogs in their own garden, based on advice from experts at Hedgehog Street.
Residents are advised to create their own hedgehog highways in collaboration with neighbours, buy or make a hedgehog home in quiet parts of gardens under thick vegetation or behind a shed, leave out pet food and water, check for hedgehogs before using strimmers or mowers, and not to touch a hedgehog unless it is injured – and wear gardening gloves or use a folded towel if necessary.
