SCOUTS in Copmanthorpe are setting up 'hedgehog highways' to ensure the little creatures can get out and about to find food - and friendship.

Dave Webster, a Beaver Scout leader with 1st Copmanthorpe Scouts, said hedgehog numbers were falling quite quickly. But there are quite simple things that we can all do to help them, he said.

"Gardens are now like fortresses and hedgehogs can't get in to find food or a mate," he said. "We need to create small holes (13cm x 13cm) to allow hedgehogs to get in."

The scout group has been learning about hedgehogs as part of an 'environmental action programme' that also includes recycling, wildflower planting and bug hotels. Scouts, cubs and their families have been working on practical ways to help to protect the little creatures - and to encourage greater awareness of how important they are. 

They have been setting up the tiny 'hedehog highways' to link gardens as part of that.

"We gave each beaver/cub/scout a slice of recycled Christmas tree trunk, to design/paint their own sign," Dave said. "We turned this into a competition, and photos of completed signs were shared within our Facebook group.”

Children have even been putting up 'hedgehog houses' in gardens.

One seven-year-old Beaver Scout, Thomas Bowen, has written a story about his hedgehog-saving activities.

“I have saved eight baby hedgehogs and one grown up hedgehog that I found in the school playing fields," he explains. "When I found the first one, I kept it warm with my coat until we put it into a box with some leaves, water and a bit of food. I did the same for the baby hedgehogs I found and have also built a hedgehog house.”

You can see examples of the group's hedgehog highway signs - and even videos - at facebook.com/copscouts/