Holes in fences save hedgehogs
Thousands are demanding more hedgehog highways between gardens, but do they work?
BY JULY, 770,000 people had signed a petition calling for a law requiring all newbuild housing to include hedgehog-friendly fence holes, but demonstrating that they make a difference has been difficult.
The theory behind the petition, launched in October 2018 by conservationist Hugh Warwick, is simple. As garden boundaries fragment available habitat for hedgehogs, which roam large areas, the CD-sized gaps represent a neat solution. “Anecdotally, I have plenty of stories about hedgehogs using these holes,” says Warwick. “We know it works, but we can’t yet prove it!”
The problem, as Professor Fiona Mathews of the Mammal Society points out, is that there are no published studies. To rectify this, the People’s Trust for Endangered Species and British Hedgehog Preservation Society are helping fund new research at the University of Reading, led by Dr Phil Baker. But to collect the data, his team must recruit many volunteers and tag many hedgehogs, over successive years.
In the meantime, Dr Baker and Prof Mathews agree that creating the fence holes is a common-sense step that won’t do any harm. Ben Hoare
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Find out more about hedgehogs at hedgehogstreet.org and mammal.org.uk