With our minds beginning to turn towards gardening after a long winter, it’s a good time to highlight the very real danger of strimming for hedgehogs. Hedgehogs often shelter in longer grass and don’t run away when they hear loud noises or are frightened, but instead their safety mechanism is to curl up into a ball. This provides no protection against a strimmer.
Hedgehogs are particularly fond of being in areas around boundary walls or fences and under bushes or hedges, so take particular care if cutting these areas back. If you can leave them uncut then even better.
Here are some tips for safer strimming:
-Gently check the area with a brush, rake or even get down to ground level with a gloved hand if possible.
-Rather than strimming right down to the ground straight away, cut the top section of grass first, then do a second cut a bit shorter, before cutting to ground level. This should allow you to get a better view of any hedgehogs hiding in the undergrowth.
East Lothian Council’s amenities team have added stickers to their machinery to remind the user to check for these elusive creatures before carrying out the work.
Gordon Whitelaw, Dunbar Depot Manager with East Lothian Council Amenities Service said, “Hedgehogs are crucial for maintaining biodiversity and we’re pleased to play our part in protecting them. We’ve been raising awareness amongst our teams to check for hedgehogs when they’re working in West Barns Primary school’s grounds as well as other areas we look after. We’re delighted to be part of Sustaining Dunbar’s Pledgehog project.”
Jen Walker, Pledghog Officer said, “We welcome Gordon’s team looking out for hedgehogs when strimming and carrying out their work. I hope this practice will become commonplace. Often people don’t imagine coming across a hedgehog when gardening, as they haven’t seen one around before. However, I urge you to assume there is one hiding in any long grass and check, rather than finding out once it’s too late”.
Sharon Longhurst who runs Burntisland Hedgehog Haven in Fife, with her husband, Andy, also warned us, “Unfortunately, we see a lot of strimmer injuries throughout the year. Many of the hedgehogs are sadly unable to be saved due to the severity of their injuries. We currently have a hedgehog in our care who was a casualty of a strimmer. He lost an ear and use of one eye but is recovering well. We are pleased to hear of East Lothian Council’s amenities team having stickers on their machinery to help raise awareness regarding hedgehogs and thank Sustaining Dunbar’s Pledgehog Project for encouraging this and raising awareness of this important matter.”
For more information about what to do if you find a sick or injured hedgehog please phone Burntisland Hedgehog Haven on 07577000328 or visit: www.burntislandhedgehoghaven.co.uk
To find out more about Sustaining Dunbar’s Pledgehog Project see: www.sustainingdunbar.org
[Image of Sharon at Burntisland Hedgehog Haven with the hedgehog recovering from strimming injuries].