Strimmer warning to look out for hedgehogs

WARWICKSHIRE Hedgehog Trust has made an urgent appeal to gardeners to brush long grass aside before using a strimmer – after four hedgehogs died from strimmer injuries this week.

All we ask people to do is brush long grass aside to see if anything is lying in the middle of it before strimming.Linda Clements, of Claverdon, who has been a hedgehog carer for more than 20 years said: “

The terrible suffering that is caused to these harmless little animals makes it very hard for me to keep taking them in. But I have to remember the ones that I can save.”“

Linda said that the first hedgehog had one nostril and the end of his nose cut off and was in extreme pain when he was brought to her.

“This was in the evening, all I could do was gently bathe his nose and put some Manuka honey on it and give him a painkiller, but the trauma was too much and my vet put him to sleep.”

She continued: “The next one had her rear foot completely gone, it was just a red sore ball, when I unrolled her.

“The other rear leg was completely missing and there were a lot of maggots in the wound. These I was able to get rid of with a spray that makes them come out of the wound and they die.

“I gave her a painkiller, but the saddest thing was that overnight she ate all the food that I had put down.”

Linda explained: “Of course there was no way that she could manage, as the other leg would have had to be amputated.

“Had it been one rear leg gone I could have saved her as she had a will to live and I felt absolutely dreadful on the way to the vets.

“The next one had another front leg gone with infection, and was put to sleep. Then yesterday evening (Thursday 9th June) another one arrived.”

The hedgehog had a very bad infection, with a rear foot torn off and ragged and Linda said: “Again, there were a huge number of maggots. Of course the spray killed them all, but they were very big and had done too much damage. Sadly, the hedgehog was still alive this morning, so I had to take this one in as well.”

Linda said: “I feel it is my job to save these little souls and given a chance that is what I do. I have been told that B&Q, in Stratford, will now put warnings on all their strimmers, so it is really up to those that buy them to have a check before they use them.

Linda said that sadly strimmers aren’t the only garden hazard, as slug pellet poisoning can also kill hedgehogs.

She said: “If a hedgehog has only eaten a few slugs that have been poisoned by the pellets they can sometimes recover. The trouble is that it affects the central nervous system, so there is no treatment and it is usually fatal.

“There are other things to try. Slugs do not like crawling over used coffee grounds, I have heard that these can be collected from well-known coffee houses. Beer traps are also very effective.”

The People's Trust for Endangered Species believes there are now fewer than 1 million hedgehogs left in the UK, down from an estimated 2 million in the mid-1990s and 36 million in the 1950s.

Linda is talking to members of the Townswomen’s Guild, in Stratford, on Thursday 11th August.