Essex homebuilder Barratt and David Wilson Homes is urging homeowners to help their prickly neighbours with five tips to help keep hedgehogs safe this Bonfire Night (5th November).
The developer has been inspired by Hedgehog Street to encourage households to watch out for hedgehogs and other small animals that may take shelter in pre-lit bonfires.
According to the State of Britain’s Hedgehogs 2022 report published by wildlife charities People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES) and the British Hedgehog Preservation Society (BHPS), hedgehog populations have declined by between 30% to 75% across different parts of the countryside since 2000.
The report also showed that urban populations appear to have stabilised and might even be starting to recover, but more work, like making gardens hedgehog friendly, is still needed.
Barratt and David Wilson Homes has partnered with the RSPB since 2014 and is committed to supporting nature and wildlife at their developments in Essex.
As part of this pledge, the developer is creating wildlife friendly gardens at its developments which are accredited by the RSPB, and is also including hedgehog homes and hedgehog highways.
Hedgehog experts from Hedgehog Street – a joint campaign between PTES and BHPS – offer various top tips for helping hedgehogs in homeowner’s gardens, whether this be making a ‘hedgehog highway’ in or under your fence or wall, leaving out supplementary food and water, or building a hedgehog home or buying one.
Barratt and David Wilson Homes has issued five tips based on advice from experts at Hedgehog Street to help keep hedgehogs safe this Bonfire Night:
Build your bonfire at the last minute to stop any hedgehogs moving in. Building your bonfire on the day of lighting can help reduce the risk to hedgehogs.
Move the entire bonfire a few meters as best as you can just before lighting, to give our prickly friends a chance to escape.
Make a barrier around your bonfire after it is built using old tyres or other objects to deter hedgehogs from entering.
Check the bonfire thoroughly just before lighting. Even if you have taken into account the other steps, there is no harm in triple checking! You might even find other animals including amphibians and reptiles using the bonfire for shelter.
Light your bonfire from one side, to give any wildlife that might still be inside an escape route out.
Grace Johnson, Hedgehog Officer at Hedgehog Street, said: “Bonfire Night can be very dangerous for hedgehogs as piles of logs, twigs and leaves make the perfect looking nest, but they’re unaware that it will soon be set alight. We ask everyone to remember hedgehogs and other wildlife this Bonfire Night and take the few simple precautions outlined, which may well save a life.”
Tom Wright, Managing Director at Barratt and David Wilson Homes Eastern Counties, said: “It’s extremely important to us when building new communities that we’re also creating a space for wildlife to thrive.
“We would like to thank Hedgehog Street for sharing these tips, and we hope they can help to keep local hedgehog populations alive.”
Barratt and David Wilson Homes is currently building a range of properties at the following developments in Essex: Corinthian Place in Burnham-on-Crouch, High Elms Park in Hullbridge (David Wilson Homes), High Elms Park in Hullbridge (Barratt Homes), Riverside Grange in North Fambridge and Mortimer Place in Hatfield Peverel.
