Unknown victims of global warming, threatened with extinction, hedgehogs are welcomed in a care center in Orsay (Essonne), pampered by Sarah Stahl and her husband in their refuge, at the bottom of the flower garden.
“The hedgehog is a bit like the polar bear in our gardens, it’s a bit like the symbolic animal that warns of these problems in France”, describes Sara Stahl, creator of the association “Les P’tits Kipik”, which works for the preservation of the species.
She says she sees “a drop in immunity, a drop in the resistance of the species, due to all this set of factors: climate change, pesticides, exhaustion… The species is weakened and is threatened with extinction”. With the rise in temperatures, the species could disappear, according to her, “by 2050”.
And when summer arrives, “we see an influx of hedgehogs, it’s exponential”. Many individuals report the presence of an animal to the association and entrust it to them. The hedgehogs are cared for and then released into their natural environment, close to where they were found.
Spiked mammals are finding it increasingly difficult to find food and drink. “In fact, when it’s very hot the earth becomes too hard to scratch and they can’t look for worms anymore, the insects hide and there are no more snails, there is nothing left”, says she. “As a result, they can starve in the middle of summer, because there is nothing left to eat when it is too hot.”
The enclosures are cool, in the shade of the trees in the garden. This is where the specimens in the worst shape are put back on their feet by the couple.
In a small hut, she established a nursery, providing first aid to the choupissons (baby hedgehogs, Ed), including breastfeeding with the help of small syringes.
“To breastfeed, mothers need to eat and have to drink. If they can’t find something to drink, they will run out of milk and become dehydrated”, summarizes Sara Stahl.
“But the search for water is complicated because she will sometimes have to travel very far to find it” and sometimes put herself in danger.
With the arrival of a heat wave on the capital and its surroundings, Sara Stahl expects a “risky summer. Like all summers, now, alas”. “Hence the importance of giving them punctually during periods of heat wave cat food, it will be a great help” she concludes.
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