Robot mowers and wildlife
Hedgehogs are out from dusk to dawn, which is exactly when an unattended mower can meet one. That's why the British Hedgehog Preservation Society recommends running robot mowers in daylight only, and why every schedule on this site stays inside daylight hours.
We don't rate any mower's wildlife safety ourselves. Where independent research has published results, we cite it and link to it, and we tell you what it did and didn't cover.
Guides
- Robot mowers and hedgehogsCan robot mowers hurt hedgehogs? What the published research found, why the BHPS recommends daylight-only mowing, and simple steps to protect wildlife in your garden.
- How we handle wildlife claimsOur rules for wildlife claims: we never rate a mower's wildlife safety ourselves, we cite published research by name, and we only ever suggest daylight mowing.
Our wildlife-safe mowing pledge
- We only ever suggest daylight mowing, starting after sunrise and finishing before sunset.
- We never describe a mower as harmless to hedgehogs unless we're quoting a cited source, and we name that source.
- We show a research result for a model only when it's published, with a link.
Sources
- BHPS recommends daylight-only robot mowing (British Hedgehog Preservation Society), awaiting check
- In tests on hedgehog cadavers, some models caused serious damage and others didn't (Hedgehog robot mower study (2023)), awaiting check
- RHS advice on hedgehog-friendly gardening (RHS), awaiting check