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A wildlife campaigner who works for a hedgehog and bird rescue charity has begged people in the UK to stop putting down toxic slug pellets after a pregnant hedgehog in their care died - along with her babies.

Wendy Bartlam posted a picture of the dead hedgehogs in the Hedgehog and Garden Bird Rescue (Staffordshire) Facebook group, saying:

"Saw this today it's so important PLEASE DO NOT USE SLUG PELLETS YOU DO NOT JUST KILL SLUGS.

"Emergency C-section on a hedgehog! A female hedgehog, arrived at the centre with a severe hemorrhage, was poisoned with anti-Slugs Pellets. Unfortunately, she died a few hours after her arrival at the centre. This female is full, we have tried to practice an emergency section to extract young.

"There were 5 baby hedgehogs, which were unfortunately not yet in term, and who did not survive.

"Pass the message around you: we must ban the anti-slugs and pesticides of our homes, they are directly responsible for the deadly stocking of biodiversity, but also directly from that of men. Do you really want to eat vegetables that grow in the middle of the poison?"

Most commercial slug pellets contain a chemical called metaldehyde, which can be dangerous to wildlife.

Hedgehogs who eat contaminated slugs are at risk, although research does show that a hedgehog would have to consume a lot of the substance before it becomes lethal.

However, there have been a few cases of dead hedgehogs being found to have had very high levels of metaldehyde in their system. There is also some concern that although the slug pellets may not kill hedgehogs they might affect their reproductive ability, having a negative effect on their population.

British hedgehog conservation charity Hedgehog Street say that to be truly hedgehog-friendly, you need to stop using slug pellets or pesticides in your garden.

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