Some good news from the burrow. East Riding of Yorkshire Council has taken delivery of more than 180 “Hedgehog Highway” frames, donated by Howden-based manufacturer Timloc and made entirely from recycled materials and Molescroft Wildlife Network is one of the groups handing them out.
If you’ve not seen one, the idea is beautifully simple. A 13cm × 13cm hole cut in the bottom of a fence or gate, finished with one of these neat frames, lets a hedgehog pass safely from garden to garden. Hogs roam over a mile a night looking for food, water, a mate and somewhere to nest, and our fenced-off gardens have quietly turned the neighbourhood into a maze of dead ends. A single gap changes that but a row of them creates a genuine network of opportunity for our spiny friends.
It matters because hedgehogs are in real trouble. Once a familiar sight in every garden, now a species in steep decline, and a flagship for the Hull and East Yorkshire Local Nature Recovery Strategy.
Want one? Come and find us, we’ve got frames to give away. You don’t need to wait, either: a hog-sized hole costs nothing to cut today. And whether you fit a frame or just spot a hog snuffling through, please log it on the Big Hedgehog Map at bighedgehogmap.org.