HAMBURG: Robotic lawn mowers can become a deadly danger for wild and domestic animals, and animal protection activists are warning that cuts and mutilations occur on a regular basis.

Animal lovers should therefore either go without a robotic mower or only use one under personal supervision. Before using one, the garden should also be thoroughly checked for small wild animals.

Because they curl up and don’t flee when in danger, hedgehogs are among the most common to get injured in many countries. Protected amphibians and lizards are also easy victims, while pets such as cats and dogs are not safe either. Under no circumstances should they be allowed in the garden when the robot is on the move.

Since hedgehogs are active at dusk and at night, the German consumer organisation Stiftung Warentest advises to use the grass cutters during the day only and to choose robots with centrifugal blades.

With these mowers, the blades, which are only a few centimetres long, are pushed outwards by centrifugal force during mowing and cut the grass. If they hit an obstacle, they fold away. Large fixed blades mow better, but also come to a stop more slowly.

In the view of the animal rights activists from Four Paws, it’s best to let your lawn grow anyway: Because besides the immediate danger, robot lawn mowers also mean a threat to the basic food supply for many animals. If the lawn is always kept short, insects, spiders and snails won’t find a home, which in turn affects birds and hedgehogs.

 - dpa