And it sounds like a Geiger counter when it’s sniffing things out
It’s hard to maintain a crusade against these guys when they look so innocent… But we had two babies that would prowl our section during the day and the way they descended on a living baby bird that had fallen out of the nest was a bit of a reality check. They obliterated the thing in two minutes flat and proved how very efficient they can be!
I don’t think you have to hate them. It’s not their fault they ended up here…
Oh, I know. I live rurally so we get the full range of pests out here and I end up thinking the same thing.
We’ve got these humane possum traps that work really well, but I’ve had to pull live joeys out of their dead mother’s pouches and smash their heads so they don’t slowly starve to death. I’m a vegetarian with a lot of empathy with animals. It was not fun.
It’s good that you put their comfort ahead of your own.
Ka Pai.
I thought they were endangered and need protection.
They’re locally endangered in the UK, but they’re considered a pest in NZ - “Hedgehogs pose one of the greatest threats to our unique and threatened ecosystems. … Hedgehogs hoover up countless endemic birds’ eggs and chicks, lizards, and invertebrates. … One hedgehog can cause an entire colony of endangered black-fronted terns to abandon their nests.” It’s a bit like how possums are valued in Aus but hated here.
Neither the hedgehog nor possum species we get here are in danger of actually going extinct. They’re all on IUCN’s least concern list.
