Hedgehog Legislation for Protection

[dougblun]

Hi All

Hopefully I’m on the right part of the forum!!

We live in small village and our outlook is a field. There are 3 (6 houses) semi detached properties only surrounded by farmland.

About 18 months ago the flower farmer who owns the field saw my wife in the garden and said that he wanted to put a fence up outside our boundary in his field, along the back of the 6 properties. The only thing my wife said to him at the time was she didn’t want it to be to high.

Then covid came and this seemed to have been put on hold ………………… until early this week. Fencing material appeared. And the fence has now gone up.

Now for the issue. We have 2 possibly 3 hedgehogs that visit the garden every night, we have night visions cameras, and the fence has concrete gravel boards!! I believe there is legislation to stop people from preventing hedgehogs access gardens (hedgehog highways). We also know that they do special hedgehog gravel boards to allow this.

They are not in place yet and it is only a matter of time before the garden is sealed!! The farmer has not approached us this time to tell us off his intentions and one household only found out when the fencing panels appeared.

We also have a fox visit, caught twice on camera and another house has seen it as well. He/she will now have no access to our garden and the food we were going to give them.

Any legal buff out there know the legislation for protection of hedgehogs?

We also have one nesting in the garden and would therefore not be able to get out and do his/her 2 mile run!!! He can get next door from our garden.

Sorry to be so long winded but the hogs/wildlife is what we are more interested in not farmer Jones’s stupidity. Believe me this is the short version!!!

Regards

Doug

[Nic]

Hi Doug

That all sounds SO frustrating! The only laws that I know about for sure are those from BHPS website, unless anything has changed since it was last updated. So if you click on BHPS logo above, then information, then FAQs then scroll down to legal. But it might be worth contacting them for some advice and they might have some materials you could give to the farmer. Their tel. no. is under contact us – bottom left.

There is also this https://www.hedgehogstreet.org/farmersadvice/
There is other potentially related information if you go to Help hedgehogs then FAQs and scroll down near to the end.

Sorry I can’t put all the links on – the Forum doesn’t like too many links being put in!

But I would try ringing BHPS for advice/suggestions.

Sorry I can’t be more help. Good luck.

[Nic]

p.s. This link may be useful re. concrete gravel boards: https://www.hedgehogstreet.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Hedgehogs-and-developers-ZR.pdf

[Kitty878]

While you’re settling the issue of your fencing, could you collaborate with the residents of the other five properties to create holes between the gardens until it reaches open land? Or will the new fence completely enclose all six gardens, on the sides as well as the back? If it’s gravel board again at the bottom you can make little ramps or steps on either side to allow access through the holes in the wood. Oh no, you said they are semi detached? Could you or someone create access for the hedgehog up the side and out the front of the house? Obviously not as safe as you presumably have a road there but better than being trapped by the new fence.

[dougblun]

Hi all

Thank you for replies.

We have spoken to people putting fencing up and they are putting one hedgehog friendly gravel board in the whole fence!!!

It stretches across 6 properties. We are going to see farmer to ask him to put in more otherwise the hogs will only have one way in and out.

The other issue that may come up is the field is going to eventually be entirely enclosed with “rabbit proof ” fencing and our hogs will be going into it. So don’t know if they are going to put hog holes in it as it would defeat the object of putting up rabbit proof fencing.

The other slightly amusing thing is we have lived here for 9 years and only seen rabbits on our second day here!!!!

Kitty, the hogs can get safely into next doors garden. Dont know how much further though.

Many thanks again.

Watch this space

Regards

Doug

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