Check out Britain's biggest hedgehog street
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The biggest street for hedgehogs in Britain has been revealed!
Dale Road, in Keyworth, which is a large village in Nottinghamshire, has been named 'Britain's Biggest Hedgehog Street' by two wildlife charities.
People living in the village have achieved this by drilling holes in their fences to connect as many gardens as possible. This helps to create wildlife corridors for the hedgehogs to explore and meet each other.
Numbers of the species are declining in the UK and they are now vulnerable to extinction, mainly due to the loss of natural habitat.
This was the plaque awarded to the street
The people living in the village said they were really happy when they heard the news.
Jennifer Manning-Ohren lives in the village and she set up a group called Wild Things Keyworth in 2020 which is aimed at helping the hedgehogs.
She encouraged people living nearby to drill holes in their fences to create dozens of little paths to allow the hedgehogs to socialise and for people to share photographs of nature and some natural habitats on social media.
Jennifer told the BBC that being awarded this title "is a huge achievement" and "has shown a lot of community spirit".
She added that they have been choosing 'Super Hedgehog Carers' to make and provide feed stations, hedgehog houses and gaps in their gardens "to spread the hedgehog love on their road."
We encourage people to spread the hedgehog love on their road."
Jennifer is concerned that people "are making wildlife homeless"
Residents are encouraging people to support, feed and to plant more hedgerow for the hedgehogs - which is their natural habitat.
In 2020, UK hedgehogs were added to the Red List for British mammals as being at risk of extinction.
If animals are on the Red List for British mammals, this means they are at risk of extinction in the next 20 years. Hedgehogs and water voles are on this list.
The British Hedgehog Preservation Society and the People's Trust for Endangered Species are calling on more people to connect their gardens to allow hedgehogs to explore between them, so the creatures can find food, mates and nesting materials.
Grace Johnson, from the Hedgehog Street project, said: "Hedgehogs are a much-loved native species, and helping them, particularly in housing areas, is easy and affordable.
"We know gardens can be havens for hedgehogs, but only if they're connected to let hedgehogs in and out."
- Published24 June 2020
- Published18 March 2015
