Plastic Entanglement Poses a Potential Hazard to European Hedgehogs in Great Britain.

A questionnaire to gather evidence on the plastic entanglement of the European hedgehog () was sent to 160 wildlife rehabilitation centres in Great Britain. Fifty-four responses were received, and 184 individual admissions owing to plastic entanglement were reported. Death was the outcome for 46% ( = 86) of these cases.

Ingestion of plastics by terrestrial small mammals.

The exposure of wildlife to waste plastic is widely recognised as an issue for aquatic ecosystems but very little is known about terrestrial systems. Here, we addressed the hypothesis that UK small mammals are ingesting plastics by examining faecal samples for the presence of plastic using micro Fourier Transform infrared microscopy. Plastic polymers were detected in four out of the seven species examined (European hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus), wood mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus); field vole (Microtus agrestis); brown rat (Rattus norvegicus)).