Shredded hedgehog, sliced toad and even toddler fingers: All these things are known to have been pulled from the blades of robot lawn mowers. Is the dream of being able to sit back and let a machine tend to your lawn really worth it?
Noses sliced off, skulls fractured, legs torn off – hedgehogs are often victims of today's robotic mowers. Technology that is time-saving and practical for humans can often be deadly for the animals in their gardens.
"We're always hearing of cases like these," says Moritz Franz-Gerstein from the German Wildlife Foundation in Hamburg. He believes that hundreds of hedgehogs are killed and injured every summer, with the numbers increasing each year but there are no concrete figures.
Snakes, toads and newts are also often victims.
In Germany alone there are an estimated 20 million private gardens. Hedgehogs are active at night, first coming out in the evenings to search for insects and worms. When they sense danger they roll themselves into a ball and refuse to move.
"That's their downfall. Dusk and night time are especially dangerous for hedgehogs," says Franz-Gerstein, adding that robotic mowers should not be used at these times.
The mowers' sensors often don't detect animals and therefore don't stop. "The machines have to become better," says Franz-Gerstein. He knows of one manufacturer which is already testing with dummy hedgehogs.
The extremely short grass left behind on monoculture lawns are bad for the diversity of species in any case, he adds.
The German hunting association Natur+Mensch has also pointed out the dangers of using robotic mowers. They should only be used during the day and under supervision on lawns, it says on its website.
Those who leave the machines permanently running destroy insects, small mammals and snails, all of which are important to the ecosystem. Frequent mowing also prevents nectar sources such as clover, important for insects, from growing.
Hedgehogs are becoming increasingly rare. "Secretive, quiet and gentle the hedgehog is endangered across Europe," according to the nature conservationists at the Heinz Sielmann Foundation. "When female hedgehogs are out in the garden with their young during the day robotic mowers should not be used at all," it says.
Consumer watchdog Stiftung Warentest also gave a poor review to robotic mowers in its Test magazine, noting that none of the 11 models tested could guarantee the safety of small children.
Two models cut off the foot of a dummy of a crawling child, almost all scratched a wooden model of a child's arm and some even cut it up completely.
Hedgehog-lover Karin Oehl believes strimmers, which use fast-rotating wires to cut grass, are even worse than robotic mowers. They are often used by councils to trim under hedges and bushes.
"The hedgehogs don't scream," says the 76-year-old, who has been brought dozens of the injured animals since April. "Small hedgehogs are completely cut up."
She believes the machines should have warnings attached to them when they are sold. – dpa
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