Erding - The hedgehogs are on the move again.
The Bund Naturschutz, Kreisgruppe Erding, points out the danger that robotic lawnmowers pose to them in gardens.
It generally promotes more biodiversity in the garden.
“To get full, the hedgehogs sometimes have to cover several kilometers.
In doing so, they encounter many dangers.
One of them is very quiet: robotic lawnmowers ”, says Sabine Lanzner, 2nd managing director of the BN district group Erding.
The automatic garden tools are a danger for small animals in the garden, would prevent the development of flourishing biodiversity and encourage the obsession of many garden owners.
The BN therefore asks for more courage to go into the wilderness: The more diverse the garden is designed and the more insect-friendly plants grow in it, the more comfortable the hedgehog feels, says Lanzner: “If you already have a robotic lawnmower, you should only let the devices work during the day and for longer Select time intervals for use. "
As soon as it gets dark, hedgehogs go looking for food.
They prefer to eat nocturnal ground beetles, but they are becoming fewer and fewer.
Earthworms are also on the menu in spring and late autumn.
“Hedgehogs are not escape animals.
If a robotic lawnmower approaches, they wait and see.
Some curl up, but even this strategy only helps large, powerful animals that are recognized by the sensors of the automatic mower, ”says Lanzner.
Smaller hedgehogs, amphibians and reptiles would not be recognized as an obstacle and would therefore be run over, injured or killed.
"Even if many manufacturers praise the safety standards of their robot models in the highest tones, the automatic mowers remain a major risk for our wild animals," continues Lanzner.
The BN therefore asks all hedgehog friends: If you cannot do without the robotic lawnmower, you should definitely move the mowing times to the day and check carefully in advance whether animals could be endangered.
This also applies to the use of other motorized garden tools such as string mowers or brushcutters in confusing corners of the garden.
In general, too much is mowed for the BN in domestic gardens.
"You can see normal lawns almost everywhere," says Lanzner.
Frequent mowing would cause herbs, wild grasses or mosses to disappear and buds to be mowed away before they can develop properly.
The lawn remains a green desert for bees, bumblebees, crickets and butterflies.
“In total, we have a garden area of 135,000 hectares in Bavaria.
A huge area that we can design as a lively, attractive living space or as a boring lawn.
It would be so easy to allow a few flowers in the otherwise lush green and you would have food for many insects, ”explains BN district chairwoman Gabriele Betzmeir.
The best solution would therefore be to give biodiversity a chance first by less mowing, she believes.
There are always corners in the garden that can be turned into a natural paradise: blooming edges on the mown lawns, near-natural local hedge plants, dry stone walls, ponds or piles of dead wood.
“A hedgehog-friendly natural garden with native flowering plants, piles of leaves and brushwood to hide away is a paradise - not only for hedgehogs, but also for many other species.
Especially now, dense old grass on and under bushes is used by hedgehogs as a place to sleep or young birds as a hiding place, emphasize Lanzner and Betzmeir, and call for people to do without robotic lawnmowers. Tips for natural gardening are available on the Internet at www.bund-naturschutz.de.
