Sharon Cade

So many otherwise trusted sites are posting deadly misinformation about bonfires, and hedgehogs who may be nesting under them. PLEASE BE CLEAR: ❌Poking a broom or stick under the bonfire will do nothing - even if you actually hit the hiding hedgehog and hurt her, she will NOT run. Hedgehogs DO NOT have the flight or fight reflex that humans and other animals have. Their response to threat and danger, and even pain, is to curl into a ball and stay put, and wait for the danger to pass. ❌A hiding hedgehog will NOT hiss, or make any sound at all! They are a prey animal, you are a predator - they will NOT alert a predator to their presence, they will stay silent. ❌Lighting the bonfire from one side will NOT WORK. Their response to danger is to STAY PUT AND CURL INTO A PROTECTIVE BALL. They won't come running out. As the heat comes closer and the smoke fills her lungs, a hiding hedgehog will just curl tighter. Whoever wrote these 'tips' does not understand the nature of a hedgehog. THEY DO NOT RUN FROM DANGER. Broadcasting this total nonsense is spreading a false sense of security and is potentially extremely harmful. The only safe bonfire is one that is built or moved ON THE DAY IT IS LIT. Moving a bonfire takes less time than you'd think. There are lots of late-born baby hedgehogs around right now, who would see a bonfire as a safe place to nest. Regrets won't turn back the clock. The 'If only' will haunt you for a lifetime. If you have to have a bonfire, please make sure you do it right.

Pumpkins: Halloween is one night. Tonight. If you have to waste a food item (and I strongly suggest you don't), please put it out for that one night, then safely dispose of it. Please DO NOT put it out for the wildlife. Once you've handled it, cut it, left it out in the open, unrefrigerated, it will not be hygienic or safe for anyone to eat. Pumpkins are a low-acid vegetable, so once they are cut and left at room temperature, pathogens will rapidly grow on the flesh, producing mould spores. Our precious wildlife do not have any magical properties that protect them against food poisoning. Additionally, this time of year there are baby hedgehogs around, born too late to find natural food, desperate to eat anything to stop the pain of starvation. Pumpkin has a laxative affect so it would be particularly cruel to leave it out for starving wildlife to eat in desperation, causing them to lose precious fluids that may make the difference between life and death. So no matter what you read elsewhere, please DO NOT put your discarded decoration out for the birds or any other wildlife. Please DO NOT compost them either, as a composting pumpkin can produce highly toxic tremorgenic mycotoxins, which will be deadly if the compost bin is not properly secured and is accessible to wildlife (or pets). Many hedgehogs, seeking the warmth of a compost bin, die this way every year. Once you've used the pumpkin as decoration it's waste, fit only for the bin. Please help get this vital message spread far and wide, to save precious lives and prevent suffering.