Hedgehogs & Rat Poison

mbaldw · #1 (**permalink**) 07-09-2009, 03:57 PM

Hi folks,

looks like -- as most hog fans have known for a while now -- slug pellets aren't the only poison that hedgehogs have to watch out for:

Hedgehogs killed by rat poison (BBC News)

The research paper is currently in press with the journal Environmental Pollution. It seems that nearly a quarter of the hedgehogs studied had traces of more than one rodenticide in their tissues.

Cheers,
Marc.

Malx · #2 (**permalink**) 09-09-2009, 11:55 PM

Sorry if you've not been replied to, mbaldw, but I suspect that if most of the hedgie fans on here are like me, they get depressed hearing all the untold misery meted out on the little beggars, and go into 'denial' mode. I certainly had to with that story about the kids in Portsmouth...

Marcia · #3 (**permalink**) 10-09-2009, 10:10 AM

I did want to post a comment earlier, Marc, specially because I use your website Wildlife Online so much as reference... but... I couldn't just find the words... it's so sad, so out of our control, most people wouldn't think twice before using rat poison. Maybe this fact will highlight the importance of feeding hedgehogs in our gardens like we do with birds, all year around, so they wouldn't need to forage for poisonous bait or harmful corpses.

mbaldw · #4 (**permalink**) 10-09-2009, 08:04 PM

Hi Malx and Marcia,

I must admit that I wasn't really expecting any replies to this post - I just came across the story and thought I'd post a link as there would no doubt be interested (if that's the right word) parties on this forum. I agree that it is disheartening news but, on the plus side, a quick scan of the paper (I've not had time to read it in full yet) suggests that the rodenticides weren't implicated as a cause of the hedgehog deaths. Indeed, in their discussion, the biologists wrote:

"Although exposure of hedgehogs to anticoagulants maybe widespread, there is no evidence from our study that this commonly causes lethal poisoning. The post-mortem examination of the animals in our study did not identify any instances of haemorrhage that appeared consistent with rodenticide poisoning."

Invariably rodenticides don't help the situation and they may interact to increase susceptibility to other illnesses, but it's slightly more reassuring that the carcasses presented sublethal levels. In my view, even if rat poison was a major factor, at least this research has shown that there is a problem with rodenticide contamination in hedgehogs and has clarified some of the methods that can be used to assess the levels of such biocides in the food web. In the end, the more we know, the better placed we are to help.

Cheers,
Marc.

p.s. thanks for your kind words re: my website, Marcia

Marcia · #5 (**permalink**) 11-09-2009, 10:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mbaldw

p.s. thanks for your kind words re: my website, Marcia

It's a great website, Marc, you're doing a wonderful job making all that information available to all of us. The hedgehog section has one of the most complete and well-grounded data I've came across.

Thank you for sharing that.

Marcia.