Hedgehogs in the UK have been getting some help from concerned citizens!

Hedgehogs are nocturnal travelers, and will sometimes wander as much as several kilometers (1 kilometer is about .6 miles) during the night. As more of their natural habitat is converted to farmland or developed, the critters are forced more and more to travel through urban areas. This can cause many problems for them including getting trapped or being blocked from access to food sources (mostly creepy crawlies like worms, beetles, and slugs) by garden fences. Sadly, studies in the area have shown that as much as one-third of the hedgehogs have disappeared from Britain, but thankfully there are citizens ready to help! UK residents are cutting holes in their fences to make a “hedgehog highway” that allows them to travel freely through urban areas. Some others have taken it even further by making “hedgehog houses,” and placing wood piles, compost piles, and food in their garden for their neighborhood hedgehogs. Thanks to the project Hedgehog Street and the British Hedgehog Preservation Society people have been able to organize communities and raise money to help protect the hedgehogs.

I love that these citizens were able to find little changes they can make to help wildlife survive in urban areas, and although we don’t have hedgehogs here in Michigan, I will be looking for ways I can help protect my local ecosystem!

Want to learn more? Visit http://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2016/01/26/464307528/british-homeowners-build-a-new-superhighway-for-hedgehogs or http://www.hedgehogstreet.org/pages/hedgehog-street.html

Jan 27, 2016