Hundreds of hedgehogs rescued as bounties top £4,000

THE last ‘hedgehog bounties’ were handed out to islanders in the Outer Hebrides yesterday, as a last-minute deadline day rush of rescued animals pushed the total amount paid out to £4,000.

With still just two weeks of the controversial annual cull left, Uist Hedgehog Rescue - the group of animal welfare organisations backed by Sir Paul McCartney, Joanna Lumley, Twiggy, Sting, and lyricist Sir Tim Rice - has now stopped handing out the 20 bounties for each saved creature.

That is because it is hard for non-experts to tell which ones are female - and which may already be pregnant.

The rush to save hedgehogs has brought a total bounty windfall for islanders on the Uists of 4,020 - over 1,200 more than last year, when the idea was first introduced.

In just a month, one islander earned more than 1,000. The man from North Uist, who has asked not be identified, has rescued more than 50 hedgehogs.

Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) says its eight-week cull is vital to protect important populations of ground-nesting birds from hedgehogs eating their eggs.

Animals captured in the cull are taken to a facility where they will be anaesthetised with gas, before being given a lethal injection. SNH has killed more than 140 hedgehogs so far this year.