Hi Lee
Sorry to hear about the problems there after strimmer use. Strimmers can cause terrible injuries and death of hogs so you are right to be concerned. If you find a hog with a strimmer injury try to get it help from a hog carer as soon as you can – don’t delay. You can get contact details of your nearest hog carers from BHPS on 01584 890801
The thing to do is try to suggest to the council ways they can easily minimise the risk of killing or injuring hogs. There are some suggestions here from BHPS here:
Excerpt from https://www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Hedgehog-Street-HEMP-guide.pdf :
Machinery
Hedgehogs have no flight reflex and nest year round, making them vulnerable to machine injury.
The solution
The timing and method of habitat clearance has an impact on hedgehogs, but will need to be balanced with other biodiversity needs.Bramble disturbance is least hazardous in autumn to avoid the bird breeding season, the bulk of hedgehog breeding, and hibernation. Hedgehogs are generally absent from long grass in winter, making this the least hazardous time for cutting, but this isn’t necessarily the best time to cut wildlife meadows. We recommend rotational cutting so that there’s always an area left unstrimmed for insects to feed on and hedgehogs to nest in. A high-cut, low-cut method allows nest checks in-between, and increasing the blade height of mowers will minimise risks. Ensure all machine users are trained to be hedgehog aware. BHPS offer free waterproof stickers for machines to remind operatives to check for hedgehogs.
I will put some other links on separate posts – the Forum doesn’t always like having more than one per post. So more important that you get them than it looking a bit odd!
