Hedgehogs filmed killing baby chicks

Video: Hedgehog scares off mother, eats eggs

Startling evidence that hedgehogs are killing off internationally important numbers of breeding wader birds has been caught on video by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH).

The agency has released crunch proof that the prickly intruders are guilty of hunting for young chicks to eat.

The agency is seeking to raise £5 million for a determined bid to remove the marauding creatures from Uist in the Western Isles.

A 10-year plan is being devised to capture the predators which destroy the eggs of ground-nesting birds like dunlin, ringed plover, redshank, snipe, lapwing and oystercatcher. Caught hedgehogs would be relocated live to the mainland.

Hedgehogs caught on camera killing baby chicks

20 February 2015

The dramatic decline of the wading birds is blamed on the alien hedgehogs whose populations have exploded since four were introduced in 1974 by a gardener.

Video cameras set up near nests have caught them redhanded, providing vital proof for the first time that they are actively hunting for baby birds and newly laid eggs.

Until now it had been assumed they found the nests by bumping into them by accident.

One night-time video shows a hedgehog killing lapwing chicks in a nest.

Their tactic of sniffing out and making a speedy beeline to a plover’s nest is also caught on film.

In another video, a lapwing is scared off its nest. Despite being buzzed by the frantic mother, the undeterred hedgehog continues to gorge on the eggs.

David Maclennan, SNH manager in the Western Isles, said the situation is “grim” with the hogs causing significant damage to important wild bird species.

He said they were taken aback when the videos proved hedgehogs were strategically “targeting” nests.

It was previously believed they only randomly stumbled across nests when navigating through fields, said Mr Maclennan.

David Maclennan said: “If the chicks can’t run away then the hedgehog just takes them. The videos show the parent birds are unable to defend the chicks because the hedgehog just keeps going.

“We monitored over 1,100 nests in Uist - most by video camera but others by people in the field watching nests.

“So we have a lot of footage. We have seen gulls also taking eggs but the vast majority of cases are down to hedgehogs.”

He said this was not the natural process of nature as the hogs were “artificially introduced into Uist.”

Like any other invasive, intruding non-native species, “they occupy an ecological niche and cause big problems,” he added.

Nature-based tourism is a growing trade in the Outer Hebrides with the flocks of internationally important wader birds one of the key attractions for thousands of visitors.

Tourism providers and the local authority fear a drop in business with a knock-on impact on the local economy if less visitors will come if there are no wader birds to see.

Paul Walton of RSPB Scotland said: “The key message in this challenging work is that everyone should be careful not to release non-native animals into the wild – especially on islands.”

Video: Hedgehog kills baby chicks

Video: Hedgehog hunting for eggs

Video: Lapwings try to defend nest

Video: Hedgehog scares off mother, eats eggs