Are lawn mowers the slot xo latest serious threat to depletion of hedgehog populations? That is what many people in Northern Europe think.It's a part of a world with loads of automatic lawnmowers and a huge number of hedgehog enthusiasts who say the machines are a disaster.Every spring, social media and local documents erupt with warnings that robots are hacking, slashing, and even killing hedgehogs as they exit hibernation.

The British Hedgehog Preservation Society, based in Ludlow, Shropshire, decided to support one researcher to find out what really happened.As lawn mowers become more and more popular if they are at risk, society needs to know what it can do.Dr Sophie Lund Rasmussen of the University of Oxford wanted to start by finding out what types of injuries a robotic mower can cause hogs.She collected 18 different lawn mowers and a set of tests.

Offensive injuries

In this research, no living hedgehogs were harmed. But the animals used were dead and were collected from local rescue centers.It turns out that some robot lawnmowers can be nasty to life, but others offer more than minor bumps and possibly bruises. Small mower with retractable blades and a safer front-wheel drive version.

The aim for now is to work with the manufacturers and eventually to provide a hedgehog friendly official badge so buyers can look for them.But these injuries can be caused by strippers or even a pet dog. Although we will make our robotic lawn mower safer. But there are still many other problems our dwindling population of hedgehogs faces.