Call for 'hedgehog highways' in Cornwall gardens

Hedgehogs can travel about a mile a night through gardens in search of food and mates

Households and gardeners in Cornwall are being asked to consider creating "hedgehog highways" to allow the animals to roam more freely.

The Cornwall Wildlife Trust said such changes would help the creatures, which were on the decline, "to allow them to roam far and wide".

Avoiding using pesticides and providing nest sites would also help, it added.

Highways could be holes in fences or channels dug beneath homes' boundaries to connect gardens, the charity said.

Hedgehogs live for two to five years in the wild, on average, but some have lived up to 10.

Hedgehogs can use "highways" in urban garden fences

The trust said that a 5ins by 5ins (13cm by 13cm) hole in fences would help hedgehogs "be able to roam far and wide in search of food, mates and nesting sites".

Hedgehogs can travel about one mile (1.6km) every night.

Tom Shelley, from the trust, added that although the creatures were "great climbers" and able to go over country hedges in Cornwall, they did need help with some obstacles.

He said: "They're very good at climbing, but if you have a very steep-sided pond, put in a couple of little brackets or some sort of small ladder to allow them to climb out."

Hedgehog populations in rural Britain are continuing a "steep decline", according to research earlier this year.

The State of Britain's Hedgehogs report found numbers down in rural areas by between 30% and 75% since 2000.

But the data also showed populations in towns and cities may be starting to recover.

How to make your garden hedgehog-friendly

• Make sure your garden is connected - with gaps in any fences - so hedgehogs can move between green spaces

• Leave a corner of your garden "wild"

• Check hedges and undergrowth before strimming or clipping

• Make a home for hedgehogs to hibernate

Source: BHPS