Robot mowers damage biodiversity and harm many creatures, including hedgehogs, according to German conservationists. Some of them are calling for a ban on nighttime mowing.
Conservationists and scientists in Germany have called for a ban on the nighttime use of robot mowers in order to protect hedgehogs, with a study showing that many of the animals die after being lacerated by the devices.
According to the study from the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, almost half of the 370 hedgehogs that were examined after being cut by the mowers’ blades died of their injuries or had to be put down.
Hedgehogs are particularly in danger from mowers operating at night, as the animals are nocturnal feeders and do not flee when in danger, instead relying on their spines as defense — an inadequate protection against the sharp metal blades of a robotic mowing machine.
Sounds like the plot of a 90s video game
Research sponsored by Dr Robotnik?
“German government trumpets economic gains from harvesting of gold rings.”
Damn…
Really the only problem is they go everywhere in a big sort of ring explosion if you even just injure a hedgehog.
See you guys in hell 🙂
And teeth…
Mowers running in the middle of the night while people are sleeping? Maybe changing the time of day that they run would benefit everyone, especially cute little hedgehogs.
Tbf they are very quiet.
And by very quiet, imagine this: my neighbor has one and I can’t hear it standing 5m from it.
I was thinking mowing at night is the worst time because the morning dew would promote mold growth while the blades of grass are most damaged. But I’m just making shit up.
It make sense to do that and also to inspect your yard before a mow.
I would have thought that night is a prime time for automatic mowing, as there is less energy demand, but a timer on the mower charging station can solve that.
I was also originally thinking that people at night to reduce smog, but that is an issue more attributed to gas mowers.
Night mowing is good if people have grass allergies
I was going to argue that it would not matter since the robot is mowing, but mowing at the beginning of the evening would mean a whole night before you have to deal with it.
One could set it for when they leave for work.
This is quite interesting. I have seen that sooner robot schedules can include a ‘save the hedgehogs’ mode where is doesn’t set a schedule for night-time.
𝕯𝖆𝖘 𝖜𝖆̈𝖗𝖊 𝖐𝖊𝖎𝖓 𝕻𝖗𝖔𝖇𝖑𝖊𝖒 𝖜𝖊𝖓𝖓 𝖎𝖍𝖗 𝖉𝖎𝖊 𝕽𝖚𝖍𝖊𝖟𝖊𝖎𝖙𝖊𝖓 𝖊𝖎𝖓𝖍𝖆𝖑𝖙𝖊𝖓 𝖜𝖚̈𝖗𝖉𝖊𝖙 𝖎𝖍𝖗 𝕾𝖈𝖍𝖑𝖚̈𝖒𝖕𝖋𝖊
Horrifying, yes, please do this.
Robot mower: Come here ya little spikey prick! I’m gonna eat ya up!
that’s a such a creative instance name
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Wikipedia about this sourceSonic was really not the game I thought would come true.
I think all mowers except non-motorized push mowers should be illegal for home use. You want a big, manicured lawn? Well then you gotta work for it, buddy.
Most properties where I live have huge grass lawns, but I almost never see anyone actually using them. The only time anyone is out on their lawn is to mow it, and they all use these low-effort riding mowers. Every single nice day (and I live in the maritime Pacific Northwest, so warm and sunny days are precious things) is always filled with the din of mowers, leaf blowers, hedge trimmers, and other gas-powered tools of ornamental landscaping. And for what? An ecologically-devoid patch of land that even the landowner isn’t utilizing.
It’s also a huge waste of water but your City or HOA will force you to mow it. I share the same sentiment as you and would be happy to use the land for anything apart from just a green lawn which needs to be mowed.
I’ve got a strict hoa that you probably couldn’t play on it if you tried. Neighbor had a tiny swing hidden under their porch and got fined repeatedly before they took it down. I never see any kids playing on the grass. I bet all of the balls and toys laying about would give them an aneurysm.
and they all use these low-effort riding mowers.
in defense of ride on mowers, it beats mowing with a push mower lmao. And the engines are generally cleaner burning, being bigger, and often 4 stroke.
You would think it’s the ride on mowers that are the loudest… They’re not.
what a germany problem to have. Almost as funny as getting rid of nuclear plants.
As opposed to regular mowers?
Regular mowers have a person which animal can recognize as a threat and run away. They may not bother running from an automated mower I imagine.
I’ve seen a hedgehog injured by a mowing robot. Deep cuts in its back, infested by maggots. We fed the animal some cat food, which it wolfed down and puked out again, then gave the little guy (not fully grown) to experts who nursed it back to full health before releasing it into the wild again. It was not a pretty sight.
