\u201cHedgehogs are well established in our urban habitat,\u201d the British Hedgehog Preservation Society noted on its website<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201c[They] can, somewhat surprisingly, survive very well in our cities, making extremely good use of cemeteries, railway land, wasteland and both public and private gardens \u2014 as long as they are joined up with others.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n To encourage people to make their backyards more hedgehog-friendly, the British Hedgehog Preservation Society<\/a> created the Hedgehog Street project in 2011.\u00a0<\/p>\n The project, which is supported by the People’s Trust for Endangered Species<\/a>, helps people across England link their gardens by cutting 13-centimeter-by-13-centimeter holes out of the underside of their fences.<\/p>\n To ensure that no hedgehog holes are blocked accidentally, registered \u201chedgehog champions\u201d can also get a miniature decal made of recycled plastic that reads: \u201cHedgehog Highway: Please keep this hole open!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n At the time of publication, 133,385 hedgehog holes had been registered across the country.\u00a0<\/p>\n Throughout the last 14 years, Hedgehog Street has hosted hedgehog highway competitions to boost awareness for the cause. Categories have included \u201ccommunity effort,\u201d \u201cdecorated highways,\u201d and \u201ccreative solutions,\u201d with the grand prize going to the \u201cmost connected gardens on one street.\u201d<\/p>\n In 2022, Dale Road, in Keyworth, Nottinghamshire, was named Britain’s Biggest Hedgehog Street, with 40 connected backyards.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cFor one of our roads in Keyworth to be awarded the title of Britain’s Biggest Hedgehog Street is a huge achievement and has shown a lot of community spirit,\u201d Keyworth resident Jennifer Manning-Ohren told the BBC<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Manning-Ohren, who runs the animal welfare group Wild Things Keyworth, said that her neighbors had been setting up feeding stations and hedgehog houses in the backyards for years.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe have been appointing \u2018Super Hedgehog Carers\u2019 to create a kind of pit stop for hedgehogs where we provide feed stations, hedgehog houses, and gaps, and we encourage these contacts to spread the hedgehog love on their road,\u201d Manning-Ohren explained.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe focused our efforts on Dale Road, doing garden visits, drillings, creating ramps, and decorating gaps. Some residents were able to do their own gaps too.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Through the years, Hedgehog Street has hosted an array of friendly competitions, all in the name of helping hedgehogs.\u00a0<\/p>\n In May 2025, Hedgehog Street hosted a camera competition to encourage neighbors to track hedgehogs for the National Hedgehog Monitoring Programme<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re using a combination of camera traps, AI, and citizen science to monitor hedgehogs, and we need your help to tag hedgehogs and other wildlife in the camera images,\u201d Hedgehog Street shared in a post<\/a>. \u201cBy becoming a \u2018spotter\u2019 you\u2019ll be contributing to vital conservation work.\u201d<\/p>\n The spotter who tagged the most NHMP images was awarded a high-tech NatureSpy camera, the WiFi WildCam 2.<\/p>\n As more neighbors join the hedgehog highway each year, the project has allowed hedgehogs to thrive as they traverse gardens across the country, finding mates, making nests, and eating pests like beetles, slugs, worms, caterpillars, and millipedes \u2014 a behavior that has earned them the title \u201cgardener\u2019s best friend.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cHedgehogs are a much-loved native species, and helping them, particularly in urban areas, is easy and affordable,\u201d Grace Johnson, the \u201cHedgehog Officer\u201d for Hedgehog Street, told the BBC.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe know gardens can be havens for hedgehogs, but only if they’re connected to let hedgehogs in and out.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u200d<\/p>\n![\"hedgehog](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/68dd6f99901a9ed99c884806_hedgehog-street-london-adult-hedgehog.jpg\")
Image via Carmen Peach \/ Hedgehog Street<\/p>\n![\"a](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/68dd6fc7901a9ed99c8864db_hedgehogs-hedgehog-highway.jpg\")
Upper image via Maria Gilroy \/ Hedgehog Street — Bottom image via Karen Brown \/ Hedgehog Street<\/p>\n![\"a](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/68dd7008c1e8f89a01f9d71e_hedgehog-street-london-eight.jpg\")
Image via Elizabeth Butler \/ Hedgehog Street<\/p>\n![\"a](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/68dd704fd91384ecb514ae46_hedgehog-street-london-five.jpg\")
Image via Hilary Wigston \/ Hedgehog Street<\/p>\n![\"a](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/68dd7077ba730c3f2a75f1ca_hedgehog-street-london-four.jpg\")
Image via Carl Bunting \/ Hedgehog Street<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/68dd70a9ba730c3f2a7629ec_hedgehog-street-london-one.jpg\")
Image via Hedgehog Street App<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/68dd70f8ba730c3f2a7686fc_hedgehog-street-london-three.jpg\")
Image via Wardle Claire \/ Hedgehog Street<\/p>\n![\"Three](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/68dd70cec1e8f89a01fa2305_hedgehog-street-london-hoglets.jpg\")
Image via Dave Cox \/ Hedgehog Street<\/p>\n