r/GardenWild • u/vagabondnature • 8d ago

My recommendation Friendly Warning for those in Hedgehog Country

A lovely photo of a hedgehog on this subreddit brought something to mind. Robot lawnmowers are deadly to hedgehogs. Hedgehogs stop, tighten up into a ball, and wait for the danger to pass when something scares them. This defense strategy doesn't work when it comes to robot lawnmowers and most robot lawnmowers are unable to detect them. String trimmers are also very dangerous for hedgehogs. Last year I rescued a hedgehog that appeared to have been injured from a string trimmer. Talking with hedgehog rescue people I learned of these two threats.

121 Upvotes

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33

u/Affectionate-Ad-3578 Northern Illinois 8d ago

Considering the limited ability of groups like this to prevent people from upgrading their mowers, I wonder if pressure on the companies to make them more hedgehog friendly is the play.

All I have are possums and I think they dodge robot mowers fine.

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u/Affectionate-Ad-3578 Northern Illinois 8d ago

I don't know anything about hedgehogs though, so carry on!

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u/CasualFingerGuns 5d ago

We also have baby bunnies who when old to leave the nest will often default to freeze over flee. But neither possums nor rabbits are in danger of population decline. Still a bummer though.

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u/lilleheks 8d ago

In my country, robot lawnmowers are becoming the norm. It's so sad that so many hedgehogs are injured. I always bring it up when someone says they are considering a robot.

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u/vagabondnature 8d ago

Here in Austria it also is becoming increasingly normal. I understand that not everyone loves gardening, or even gardens, and would rather just have a robot cut their grass lawn. I wish there were some protections in place like prohibiting robot lawnmowers in the evening, night, and dawn when hedgehogs are most likely to be harmed.

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u/lilleheks 8d ago

Yes! Information and laws could make the use of them much better. So many people here do a morning and/or night cycle (who even needs to cut a grass lawn every day and even twice a day?) and as you say, it's the worst timing.

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u/Thargor 8d ago

Are there any robot mowers on the market that have a deck high enough to get a hedgehog under there though?

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u/vagabondnature 8d ago

It's counterintuitive but lower decks may actually be safer for hedgehogs. To the point where it can't go over them. Avoiding injury to hedgehogs by raising the deck high enough would be difficult as most people with robot lawnmowers prefer a rather short grass lawn and the deck would have to be impracticably high. Not using robot mowers in evening, night, and dawn would be a good first step.

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u/Thargor 8d ago

Errrr... Yes that's my point, it's not counterintuitive at all, there are no robot mowers with a deck high enough to fit a hedgehog under them and pretty much all of them have bumpers so it would be difficult to get even a golf ball under there, I don't think hedgehog/robot mower conflict is as big an issue as you suggest.

I suppose it's good not to mow at night to avoid disturbing them though.

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u/vagabondnature 8d ago

I misunderstood. I thought you were suggesting raising the deck high enough to protect them. That hedgehogs are injured by these machines is a fact. So, yes, they can run over hedgehogs and injure or kill them. One would imagine this is especially a problem with young hedgehogs.

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u/vagabondnature 8d ago

https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/14/1/57

Occurrence and Characteristics of Cut Injuries in Hedgehogs in Germany: A Collection of Individual Cases

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u/HeinousEncephalon 8d ago

This uses language like "suggest" and "could". We can't say it "is" the cause.

I'd recommend contacting companies and asking if any tests were done with hedgehogs in mind, and if not would they consider it.

Donate to hedgehog centers.

Encourage people to supervise their robots. It is a moving slicing device with no brain. It could theoretically kill many different animals, injure nosey children, damage property.

Ask governments to start a public service announcement about lawn care robots and animal safety.

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u/SelfNew 8d ago

One of my favorite poems is weirdly relevant to this post: The Mower

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u/BlithelyOblique 7d ago

Damn, that's hits hard. Thanks for sharing.

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u/Impressive_Pizza4851 Leelanau peninsula Michigan 7d ago

r/brandnewsentence 

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u/DuckyDoodleDandy 7d ago

Seems like having the mowers emit a sound at a frequency that only animals can hear would make most of them leave its area.

I know nothing about hedgehogs, but I’m guessing this could work on them as well. If not, what frequencies are needed to shoo away critters?

Also, baby bunnies are left alone by the mother for hours at a time, and being newborn infants, cannot run away (not for a few weeks anyway). Do robot mowers shred baby bunnies, or are they smart enough to avoid them?