Russell Armer Homes, a company that builds around 50 homes a year in the North West of England, has agreed to make their new developments hedgehog-friendly.
Following the Hedgehog Street campaign run jointly by People’s Trust for Endangered Species and the British Hedgehog Preservation Society, Russell Armer will initially be introducing hedgehog highways in the gardens on their developments in Grange-over-Sands and Arkholme in Cumbria.
Already, the Hedgehog Street campaign has encouraged people to connect over 10,000 gardens across the UK, providing important habitat links for hedgehogs. This connectivity is crucial as hedgehogs can roam around 2 kilometres every night searching for food. As their preferred diet includes invertebrates such as worms and beetles, domestic gardens are an ideal place to feed.
With around 100,000-200,000 new homes built every year in the UK, it is important that housing developments make space for wildlife if hedgehogs and other creatures are to continue to live alongside us. The commitment from Russell Armer Homes to integrate hedgehog highways into their developments is a fantastic step forward and we at PTES are looking forward to many more developers following suit.
