ISLANDERS are being urged to “check before you chop” after a hedgehog had to be put down yesterday when it suffered severe injuries caused by a hedge trimmer.
Dru Burdon, of the Jersey Hedgehog Preservation Group, said the casualties were “dreadful” to see. When called by the JEP yesterday, she was in the midst of attempting to save the life of the second injured hedgehog to have been brought to her in 12 hours.
It is not unusual to see an influx of maimed or injured hedgehogs brought to the group’s Waterworks Valley headquarters in the run-up to the branchage, as landowners and occupiers start cutting back vegetation overhanging roads and paths.
But Ms Burdon called on Islanders to take time to check in the long grass and under hedges for sleeping hedgehogs and other wildlife before cutting, trimming or mowing.
She said: “We had to take him to the vets to be put to sleep, as he had a deep cut on his head and his nose was so badly cut that it was hanging off.
“Just a moment to check for wildlife before the person started to cut could have saved this hedgehog’s life.”
She added: “I’m so angry and it’s dreadful, awful, to see. We’ve been banging on about this for 32 years and it makes no difference. No one takes any notice because time is money and contract gardeners have to get the job done in a certain time, so they think they have no time to check for hedgehogs before they start work.
“I know we’re asking a lot, but if people are working in their own gardens I don’t think it’s unreasonable.”
Ms Burdon stressed that the “shrinking population” of hedgehogs in the Island made it more important to look out for them.
“Check before you chop,” she said. “That’s all we’re asking.”
Any Islander who finds an injured hedgehog should telephone the group on 734340 or contact them through their website – jerseyhedgehogs.co.uk.
