TELEGRAPH
National Day of the Hedgehog: can the prickly favourite be saved from extinction?
21 November 2015
Ah yes. This hedgehog man.
He makes some good points, but his most important point of advice is hidden away at number 6.
“Stop using pesticides, insecticides and slug pellets. They poison hedgehogs and kill their prey.”
He’s right, but this ought to have been number one. The vast majority of hedgehogs we rescue at Harper Asprey, as Anne Brummer will tell you, are sick because they have been poisoned in some way … slug pellets being the first suspect. Slug pellets kill everything … can poison your pets and children too. And the poison leaks into the water table with unchartable results. If I had my way, slug pellets would overnight disappear from hardware stores. Is a border of pathetic Marigolds or boring Hostas worth that hideous poison in your garden ? Don’t do it.
Grow something else ! WE have made a world that is toxic to so many wild animals. The government ought to take a stand on this. But of course, they won’t. It would threaten belief in their stance that wild animals are worthless. It would take them it one step nearer to having to admit that the badger cull is an ineffective disgrace, and that fox-hunting is sadism and unsupportable.
Let’s make life good for the poor hedgehogs, and maybe better days will come.
Bri
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