Toulouse: too many dead hedgehogs on the road, a resident of an alert neighborhood
Several weeks since, a resident of the Lapujade district in Toulouse has witnessed the resurgence of dead hedgehogs in her neighborhood. It has decided to alert road users to the consequences of driving at excessive speed.
“It’s heartbreaking to see this horrible spectacle.” With these harsh words, Catherine Denoël, president of the Lapujade neighborhood association in Toulouse, expresses her disgust. Indeed, for several days, she has come across more and more regularly the corpses of hedgehogs in her impasse as well as in adjacent streets. “It’s an endangered, protected species, I don’t understand why people aren’t paying attention,” the president of the neighborhood association gets carried away. She is indignant to see these animals crushed in very narrow arteries where speed is nevertheless limited. For her, it is also the conduct of motorists that leads to this sad observation. “A few years ago before this zone went to 30 km/h I really found crushed or injured cats, people were driving too fast, since they activated this speed limit, the phenomenon has reduced”, assures this resident. So to show her anger, she put up several posters in her neighborhood to “raise awareness” among road users. “Thank you for driving slowly and watching where you put your wheels”, is thus written in large black letters. “Angry, I said to myself that people had to be told that they did not live alone on this planet,” she says. Once behind the wheel, nothing exists. The sidewalks are narrow here, pedestrians and children sometimes have to walk on the road”.
3,000 animals cared for
Every year, dozens of animals, especially in the spring, when they come out of hibernation, are the target of accidents. In Toulouse, the wildlife clinic created in 1999 operates 7 days a week all year round. Teacher-researchers, clinicians and students from the National Veterinary School of Toulouse collect animals from non-captive wildlife throughout the year and provide them with the care necessary for their rehabilitation in the wild.
These professionals answer questions about wildlife in distress and guide people to receive the injured animal in the best conditions. If you find an injured animal, it is therefore possible to contact the clinic from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day on 05 61 19 38 62. The reception of injured wild animals is only done after making telephone contact. Each year, this antenna receives more than 3,000 animals in distress. Among them, 27% of mammals and 72% of birds are taken care of. Once cared for and independent, and after a rehabilitation phase in enclosures or aviaries, the rehabilitated animals are released.