The first two days of this week have been impressively packed with hedgehog experience! And while not directly promoting the petition, I hope that the events have helped push it closer to becoming a reality.

Every few months we gather in London to plot and plan and review the work of Hedgehog Street - the collaboration between the British Hedgehog Preservation Society and the People's Trust for Endangered Species. The combination of research projects and campaigning work well together to ensure we promote hedgehog conservation based on sound science. 

But the meeting was delayed because Jill Nelson, CEO of PTES, had been invited to the Department for Transport to hear what the Minister, Chris Grayling, had to say. And I am sure most of you are by now aware of what he was launching ... the plan for a new road sign, featuring a hedgehog.

This is an interesting development - one that has been 'driven' by the Minister. It also gave me a chance to learn new things ... such as the existing official 'wildlife' signs - of deer and toads - are very much aimed at protecting us - from the risk of collision with large mammals including deer and livestock and in the case of toads, warning us of the skid risk should we drive over a migrating flock of toads on their way to breed in water. But this sign is about the animals - not just hedgehogs, but all small animals.

The side-effects, should the signs work, will also be a safer street environment for pets and children as well. Now - where should they go? That, as yet, is not clear - but I see no harm in making requests to the DfT ... I am sure if you were to follow that link to their twitter feed and politely request signs for your area they would start to get the message as to how much we really do care. And while you are at it, you could drop a line to your local MP and council as well, so that they are aware of a need.

Needless to say, this news also generated a flurry of requests for me to do interviews - so in the space of a few hours I did BBC Radio 4, Scotland, West Midlands, Coventry and Oxford ... while also, yesterday, running a four hour session teaching the parks teams from Oxford City Council how best to manage their land for hedgehogs! 

I pointed out to all who would listen that there is a real concern about the impact of road kill on hedgehog populations, as the latest data suggest that over 100,000 are killed each year. But there was humour too - one interviewer introduced me by talking of the DfT's earlier road safety campaign that featured cartoon hedgehogs by the side of the road discussing when it was going to be safe to cross ... which always struck me as a very strange choice of animal ... as it was the one children were most likely to see squashed!

Hedgehog Highways are going to be crucial for allowing our favourite animal to thrive - but the wider environment needs to be suitable for them as well. And if we can make the roads a safer place for hedgehogs - by encouraging people to drive slower, especially after dark, this will expand the ability of hedgehogs to move through the landscape. So I am thrilled that the signs are going to start appearing later this year.

And the workshop I ran for the council will also increase the ability of hedgehogs to thrive - they were wonderfully receptive to the ideas I shared and hopefully we will have a good news story to share in a few months time ... 

Thanks again for all your support - the Facebook Group has grown massively after the last update - by 1,500 people in just a week!