Hebridean hedgehogs: a irritated issue Hugh Warwick Comment is free

Hedgehogs have culled on the Uists at a cost of £800 each. Photograph: guardian.co.uk

How majority is a hedgehog worth? Two stories with unequivocally opposite values trustworthy to hedgehogs in the space of dual days.

First, the Guardian carried an talk with Caroline Gould of the Vale Wildlife Rescue. The thousands of animals, together with majority hundreds of hedgehogs, that are brought to her each year need feeding, nonetheless income from free trusts and open donations is in decline. It costs about £5 a week to feed a hedgehog in care.

The other, published in the Scotsman, suggested a unequivocally opposite worth trustworthy to the hedgehog: some-more than £800 each as they were initial killed and afterwards translocated by Scottish Natural Heritage from the Uists in the Outer Hebrides. This was piece of an try to exterminate the irritated interlopers that had been introduced in 1974 in a misled action of biological carry out of slugs and snails. As the numbers of hedgehogs widespread opposite these islands, so the tact success of majority of the internationally critical populations of wading birds decreased. A couple was done – hedgehogs are prejudiced to eggs, and these hedgehogs were rising from hibernation only as the birds were laying a smorgasbord of delight.

SNH felt thankful to action and in 2003 began a winnow of hedgehogs, that in spin generated an huge cheer from the open and the investiture of Uist Hedgehog Rescue. Fortunately, after a little investigate in to the poise of translocated hedgehogs, SNH motionless to work with the rescuers and stopped murdering – and they proceed acid for hedgehogs again this spring.

But it costs a lot of income to remove hedgehogs from the Uists – passed or alive. And this was at the centre of the concerns lifted by the house of SNH at their assembly in Edinburgh yesterday as the conservationists had to transparent the £1.2m of open income outlayed so far and ask for a serve £1m for the subsequent 3 years.

At some-more than £800 a hedgehog, this has had wildlife rescue centres feeling rather jealous. On that they could feed 160 hedgehogs for a week.

But it is working, right? Well, that is where there is a problem. Right from the begin of the debate to stop the murdering of hedgehogs, I have been asking questions about the effect of the assumptions that the programmed expulsion is formed upon. It was calming to see the SNH house receiving a identical line – majority particularly in asking for a improvement in the magnitude of success afar from the numbers of hedgehogs private and on to the numbers of birds successfully breeding.

That should be obvious, but everyone"s appetite seems to have been destined at the rather Daily Mail-esque perspective to wildlife management: if in doubt, censure the bootleg immigrant.

This is because story is so important. The unequivocally initial hedgehog investigate I undertook, in 1986, was to see at the expect same complaint on North Ronaldsay, the majority primeval of the Orkney archipelago. This is still an island of healthy wonders, but it no longer has a little of the most appropriate well known tact birds in residence. Initially, not long ago alien hedgehogs were blamed, but over time it became transparent that there were majority alternative factors at play, such as tillage practices and meridian change. And whilst a little hedgehogs competence eat a little birds" eggs, that does not meant there is a causal couple in between increases in hedgehogs and decreases in tact bird success.

Perhaps it would be improved to outlay a little of the hundreds of thousands of pounds earmarked for hedgehog removal to revisit the strange row that they are the main problem. And if there is any income left over after that, there are a little wildlife rescue hospitals that could unequivocally make use of a little help.