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Robot Lawnmowers Are Killing Hedgehogs (wired.com)
An anonymous reader shares a report: While Americans still wrangle their overgrown lawns by pushing or riding a lawnmower, many Europeans have handed off that responsibility to robots. These beefy, Roomba-like mowers loop their way around a yard, keeping grass trim and neat. To many of their users, the bots are endearing. Their owners give them names or cover them in decals of ladybugs or bumblebees. But the sentimentality only goes so far, because these blades-on-wheels have also been slicing up something other than grass: hedgehogs.
Erika Heller, a long-time hedgehog advocate with a Swiss nonprofit called Igelstation Winterthur, estimates that nearly half the hedgehogs brought to the group during the last couple years were injured by robot lawnmowers. These injuries include limb amputation, cut bellies, or even scalping. And that's not including the ones that have been killed outright. "The ones that have died we don't see, because they don't get brought here." In the United States, despite a wealth of children's toys and clothing featuring hedgehogs, the only live animals you're likely to see are in the zoo or, more controversially, kept as pets. But in Europe, wild hedgehogs are beloved. They're popular in European folklore; there's even a famous British poem about a hedgehog killed by a lawn mower.
Erika Heller, a long-time hedgehog advocate with a Swiss nonprofit called Igelstation Winterthur, estimates that nearly half the hedgehogs brought to the group during the last couple years were injured by robot lawnmowers. These injuries include limb amputation, cut bellies, or even scalping. And that's not including the ones that have been killed outright. "The ones that have died we don't see, because they don't get brought here." In the United States, despite a wealth of children's toys and clothing featuring hedgehogs, the only live animals you're likely to see are in the zoo or, more controversially, kept as pets. But in Europe, wild hedgehogs are beloved. They're popular in European folklore; there's even a famous British poem about a hedgehog killed by a lawn mower.
before they move up to humans
Hurting hedgehogs should be punished by triple execution: Lethal injection, firing squad, and hanging all simultaneously.
"That's the way to do it" - Punch
Are robot lawnmowers actually the popular in Europe? Also, how many hedgehogs get run over by human operators, because to me it seems like robot lawnmowers should be relatively rare even if they are popular. Do hedgehogs not flee from a mower (or what is causing them to get hit) because it stands to reason that if they don't try to get out of the way that humans would probably run over them just as often.
There has to be some basic piece of information that I'm missing here, because this story doesn't seem to make sense to me. I'm not familiar with hedgehogs at all, so maybe they're just stupid when it comes to lawnmowers in the same way that rabbits are when it comes to vehicles at night. Otherwise, this just seems overblown to me.
Normally while mowing, I am usually more focused on going in a straight line to keep my lawn neat, unfortunately any animals that are not moving and are in the range of the blades may get hit. I am not heartless If I see them, Ill avoid it, but animals seemed to evolve to be hard to see in nature, will unfortunately be hit by mowing. Snakes, Bugs, Toads, Moles, Mice... If they don't get out of the way, they can get hit.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
First the robots came for the hedgehogs, but I did not speak out because I was not a hedgehog.
This is a "thing"?
Get a job and go talk to real humans....
When windmills were first brought to Ontario, there were a number of bird deaths but after a while these decreased to zero and now you'll see birds fly between the blades of windmills, playing with them. Deer that aren't around humans are easier targets for hunters. Shouldn't the same thing happen with hedgehogs and lawnmowers?
It's a form of (un)natural selection, the hedgehogs's environment has changed and the ones that are more cautious and wary of the lawnmowers will become the ones that survive and move forwards.
Mimetics Inc. Twitter
The fitness landscape is constantly changing, and they are evolving. Their generation times are not long. Pretty soon they will learn to avoid robotic lawn mowers.
Just last week I saw a deer look both directions before crossing the road. Really. The only natural predator left for these rats on hooves are the the genus Automobilia species sedanis, suvis, truckis and truckis. Now they are evolving to avoid them, it is going to be impossible to contain the epidemic.
sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
Robots Are Our Friends
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
Eggman Industries is proud to present: the robo-lawnmower. It mows down:
* Grass.
* Weeds.
* Bushes.
* Small trees.
And...
* Pesky blue hedgehogs.
If a robot mower (or regular mower) hit a woodchuck, I think major repairs would be required.
I've been known for stopping the mower for praying mantis(es) and voles.
Enters new programming into robot lawnmowers:
A robot may not injure a hedgehog or, through inaction, allow a hedgehog to come to harm.
A robot must obey the orders given it by hedgehogs except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws
That ought to take care of it.
The only natural predator left for these rats on hooves are the the genus Automobilia species sedanis, suvis, truckis and truckis
They are rare, but A. stationwagonus, A. coupes, A hatchbackus, A. sportscarus and other lesser-known species are also lethal threats to Ratonhoovus gigantus .
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
If they don't get out of the way, they can get hit.
George Castanza's failed deal with the pigeons comes to mind.
He's getting rather old, but he's a good mouse.
Was there a naked man on all fours following the mower, eating the grass and hedgehog carcasses?
If so, don't call the cops - go with "God bless the grass."
Why are they only complaining about the autonomous "robot" lawnmowers? A lawnmower pushed or piloted by a human is going to bisect that hedgehog just as much as one driven by a computer. Anyone who's ever piloted a riding mower through tall grass knows that you're not going to see an object in the grass -- whether it's a small animal or an inanimate object (kids toys etc) -- until after the blades have busted it up.
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I know people don't generally care about animals, because people generally consider themselves more important; but I can see that the 'automation' craze is going to be the worse thing for wildlife and pets ever. What is the motivation for an automated car company to spend time tuning their vehicles to avoid animals? It will be loads more difficult than the main objective of avoiding humans, and I am just not confident anything that isn't big enough to harm the vehicle will be noticed at all.
Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
Sing with me, "Every signature is special "
Look back up at my post, now look back down, you're on the Internet. Now look back up. I'm a signature.
Anyone think this would be a good idea for a new Sonic the Hedgehog game?
Or just go backwards and forwards a couple times to turn said creature into a nice red smear that will fertilize the lawn?
There are three kinds of falsehood: the first is a 'fib,' the second is a downright lie, and the third is statistics.
The "famous poem" which was surely written by someone "special" was written in 2001. And it describes a human using a lawnmower and he kills a hedgehog. So now we have automated lawn mowers and they are doing the same thing. Why is this even news?
Anyone here ever eaten one? A hedgehog I mean, not an automated lawn mower. Wonder what they taste like?
There are three kinds of falsehood: the first is a 'fib,' the second is a downright lie, and the third is statistics.
I wonder if the bots can emit a high-pitched sound, not audible to humans, to scare away critters.
Hedgehogs might get revenge by building counter bots:
Table-ized A.I.
Who wrote this shit?
http://www.acetonestudio.com
"In the United States, despite a wealth of children's toys and clothing featuring hedgehogs, the only live animals you're likely to see are in the zoo or, more controversially, kept as pets. But in Europe, wild hedgehogs are beloved."
She really needs to actually visit the United States. I can show her a wealth of what we call prairie dogs, along with the biological equivalent of these "scalpers". We call them, hawks.
--
"Adopt the pace of nature: Her secret is patience" -- Ralph Waldo Emerson
I've wondered this myself. I expect that it has something to do with the fact that "the rich" have historically had large properties with large lawns, and figure that maybe even peons can similar enjoyment out of the postage stamp of land that they live on.
His ignorance covered the whole earth like a blanket, and there was hardly a hole in it anywhere. - Mark Twain
In wealthy America. animals are apparently only found in zoos, according to this article. Has the person quoted here ever been in the United States? When I lived in suburban New Jersey, I routinely had deer, large groundhogs, raccoons, opossums, and other animals roaming through my yard eating my landscaping and ravaging my garbage cans if I left them out. Maybe the writer thinks all of America is like mid-town Manhattan.
Cuz there are way too many SJWs around nowdays, and the world would be better off if we could cull them somehow.
:(
/ I'm gonna pay for this
A lawn is something that allows me to get from place to place on my property. In lieu of grass, native weeds will replace the grass and perform the same function if they're mowed occasionally. Not mowing provides a haven for ticks (and hence Lyme disease), and eventually shrubs and trees grow, making passage across my property difficult.
A lawn provides an open space for sports: horseshoes, croquet, and a host of other possibilities.
A tree growing near the house will eventually lose limbs and die, poking nasty holes in the roof in the process. In rural areas, trees can damage septic systems. Grass is better.
Grass helps prevent erosion.
There are numerous other advantages, many of them aesthetic.
Contribute to civilization: ari.aynrand.org/donate
but I suspect people may set the robot mowers to run overnight when the hedgies are out and about foraging.
No way. In Switzerland (where this non-profit is based), it is illegal to make noise between 22.00 and 06.00.
You aren't even allowed to take out your trash to the recycling bin (glass is noisy when you throw it in the collector bin).
Anyone programming their Robomow / Husqvarna to mow during night time is going to be in for a fine.
Hedghog's problems come from three source :
- Hedgehogs don't use (swiss-) watches. They are very frequently out also in the morning or early evening/late afternoon. (Which in autumn might still/already be dark). Also the might be out at some completely unusual time, perhaps because they got startled.
- Hedgehogs don't have a "flight" reflex. When feeling threatened, they roll up in a ball. That might be efficient against potential wanna-be predators (spikes everywhere, it's a relatively good strategy), but it's a completely useless strategy against anything that moves automatically.
- A human riding on a ride-on lawnmower or pushing one is likely to notice the brown ball of spike and avoid it. Current gen robots aren't able to notice them and some seem to have enough underneath clearance to roll above the poor animal and mutilate it.
But this isn't specific about robots :
- Weed whacker are tremendously popular here around (to trim grass, trim *hedges* (!) etc.) they have a long arm, and the whacking part is completely un-protected. Means that while trimming, the human operator might not notice that in the shadow of the hedge, the whacker is about to inflict wounds to some poor hedgehog hiding there. These are much higher risk to hedgehogs than robotos due to sheer popularity of the device.
- Cars. Cars decimate hedgehogs. They aren't that much visible to the drivers, specially in low-light conditions like mornings or evening when most people are commuting. And the hedgehog's threat-response behaviour makes them at a high risk to be rolled upon. Each autumn there are massive campaigns to raise awareness about the problem.
"Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
The problem is that hedgehogs often sleep in long grass at the edge of a lawn.
...where the robot won't go.
Devices like Robomow or Husqvarna stay within a pre-delimited area and will never move outside of it.
They will never go to the edge of the lawn.
The hedgehog need to be strolling inside the mower's designated area for an accident to happen.
On the other hand, weed-whacker operated by humans are easy to use to trim the edges of the law, the hedges, etc. and the operator might not notice that in the shadow, there's a small animal about to be maimed.
"Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
That doesn't explain the deer I see on the road every night on the way to work. They stand right there in the road and look at your car, or worse, jump out in front of it.
Deer have evolved so that, when frightened they freeze and remain motionless, hoping not to be seen by a potential predator, and only start running at the last possible moment to spare energy. Usually it can work with some predators. It completely fails with car which will keep on track, no matter what.
(Standard procedure I've been taught at driving lesson is to shut down the light (remove the source of stress that forces them to remain as statues) and honk (toi startle them and make them run away).
Also, like of preyed-on wild animals, deers (and jack-rabbits, etc.) will tend to run in random patterns (to be hard to predict for any predator chasing them) changing quickly directions (so that the predator is at risk to overshoot and miss them), instead of running in straight line (where a faster runner could catch them up.)
Also lots of wild animals (squirrel being the most typical of this behaviour) will tend to try to aim for their "safe place" when frightened. If the deer is on the right side of the road, and the wood it came from is on the left side, it will attempt to cross the road to reach the "safety" of the woods, instead of just stepping aside.
Both of the above mean that the deer is very likely to jump onto your car when starting to run.
As opposed to animal which grew up with humans and are used to cars moving on straight line and will simply move aside and wait.
"Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
I had the bunny massacre one year. It was awful. A whole family of baby rabbits was hiding in the grass and I didn't know until I heard Thwump Thwump Thwump. I still feel awful.
I'm not sure either how *robotic* lawn mowers are particularly susceptible to this.