Okay - forgive the overly dramatic headline, but, it got your attention! This update is going to look at the research, published today, that reveals the threat hedgehogs face from robotic mowers.

To be honest, I was not familiar with these devices - but - they can be programmed to keep your lawn trimmed without you having to shed a drop of sweat. Now, I have issues with the cult of tidiness that this sort of equipment is forcing onto society - I believe that we should learn to share our gardens with wildlife, and in so doing, maybe let some grass grow, plant a bit of lawn with wildflower seeds, and let a little wildness creep in.

But not everyone is so keen on that approach, and for those who want to keep their lawn trim, without effort, these mowers must seem attractive.

Consider, if you will, our hedgehogs. Due to their fabulous coat of spines they have lost what is known as the 'fight or flight' response. When they meet a potential threat they first of all frown (the frown muscle reaches from the forehead down to their tail) which brings the spines up and forward, protecting the face. Then, if really bothered, they roll up. 

So what does a hedgehog do when, snuffling across a lawn for worms, it meets a robotic mower? Most wildlife will run/fly away if it can. But the hedgehog?

Dr Sophie Lund Rasmussen is an ecologist and hedgehog researcher who has recently started work at the world leading Wildlife and Conservation Research Unit at the University of Oxford. She is a dynamo - a brilliantly energetic and practical scientist. And she was bothered by images she had seen of hedgehogs that had been injured by robotic mowers. Rather than just get upset, she established a research project, funded by the British Hedgehog Preservation Society, to look into the reality.

No hedgehogs were hurt in the experiment. She used dead hedgehogs from rescue centres (unfortunately hedgehogs are not immortal and some cannot be saved). She tested 18 models of mower, each 12 times with different sized hedgehog bodies. The full paper can be read here.

"I was very surprised to discover how differently the robotic lawn mowers performed in our tests," Sophie said. "It was devastating to witness how some models badly mutilated the dead hedgehogs. But at the same time, other models did quite well, and did not seem to harm the hedgehogs."

The investigation showed that none of the models could detect the hedgehog cadavers until they bumped into them, and none of the robotic lawn mowers tested were able to detect the presence of dead, dependent juvenile hedgehogs (weighing less than 200 g). 

Sophie continued, “All robotic lawn mowers tested had to physically interact with the hedgehog to detect it. This was not the outcome I had hoped for, as the optimal scenario would be that the robotic lawn mower was able to detect the hedgehog in advance and change direction."

This was not a piece of work to name and shame, however, but a real attempt to build bridges with the developers of these machines, to try and get them to work with experts like Sophie. While robot mowers are definitely NOT for me, if they are going to be used, then let them be programmed to allow wildlife to thrive (and they have to be better than plastic lawns ... oh, don't get me started!)

It is not just hedgehogs, of course, that are at risk. Toads and slow worms out at night would be vulnerable, as would baby birds during the day. Sophie's work is really important and will hopefully seed a real change.

And now, to what I had originally planned to write about before Sophie's work emerged ... Hedgehog Awareness Week starts on Sunday 2nd May!!! Last year was such a hectic round of talks and lectures. This year - well - it starts with me talking to Mike from Hedgehogs Hollow on a live stream - to be found here at 3pm.

I will use the week to remind you all that if you have any friends out there who have yet to sign the petition - PLEASE prod them into action ... we are inching towards a million ... and when we get there ... I will go marching up to the Secretary of State demanding an audience!

Before I go - just wanted to thank Wantage Cafe Scientifique for hosting a talk recently and then sharing the result to remind me of what I put the audience through! If you were ever interested to know ... follow this link! 

Disclaimer: The live hedgehog in the photograph (with Dr Rasmussen) did not take part in the tests and was only out during the day as it was at a rescue centre after having received care and was released back into the wild the same evening.