Garden Pesticide Use and Hedgehog Welfare

Hedgehogs are highly vulnerable to garden pesticides through direct ingestion and bioaccumulation in their invertebrate prey. Slug pellets in particular have caused significant mortality in garden populations.

Key Facts

Metaldehyde slug pellets have been banned in the UK following evidence of wildlife toxicity
Ferric phosphate pellets are less toxic but still require careful use in hedgehog gardens
Hedgehogs eat up to 200g of invertebrates per night and bioaccumulate contaminants rapidly
Urban hedgehog populations have collapsed in many areas due in part to chemical exposure

Welfare Considerations

Metaldehyde poisoning causes tremors, excessive salivation, seizures, and death in hedgehogs. Sublethal pesticide exposure impairs reproduction and immune function. Hedgehogs that eat slugs killed by pellets ingest lethal concentrations of toxin. Habitat fragmentation prevents hedgehogs from moving away from treated areas. The cumulative effect of multiple chemical exposures in a typical suburban garden can cause chronic toxicity even where no single pesticide is present at acutely harmful levels.

What You Can Do

Stop using slug pellets in your garden entirely and use physical barriers or beer traps instead
Avoid broad-spectrum insecticides that reduce the invertebrate prey base
Let areas of your garden grow wild to provide both habitat and prey for hedgehogs
Connect with your neighbours to create hedgehog-friendly corridors through adjacent gardens