Hedgehogs humble McDonalds

[Cocoa]

http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/articlenews.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2006-08-31T100037Z_01_L31330208_RTRUKOC_0_UK-ENVIRONMENT-MCDONALDS-HEDGEHOGS.xml

LONDON (Reuters) - Hedgehogs have finally humbled burger giant McDonald's after years of campaigning, forcing the company to redesign its killer McFlurry ice-cream containers.

Up to now the opening in the container has been large enough for hedgehogs to get their heads into for a lick of the left-over dessert -- a trap they have then been unable to withdraw from, so dying of starvation in untold numbers.

But from September 1, the wide-mouthed opening in the lid of the McFlurry containers will be reduced in size, making them too small for the sugar-loving animals to get their heads into.

"This is excellent, it is long overdue news," said Fay Vass, chief executive of the British Hedgehog Preservation Society. "We have been in touch with McDonald's about this problem for over five years and are delighted that they have at last solved the problem."

more...

[Deja Q]

1. Why not improve garbage can designs and get indolent humans to use them?

mind you, this will give Mickey-D a chance to shrink the size of the cup yet not shrink the cost of the junk food.

[TransitJohn]

2. Dang! I clicked on this???

I thought an army of Ron Jeremy clones went bezerk at a fast food joint.
j/k

[rpannier]

3. I was unaware of this

Thanks for your post.
I'm glad McDonald's made the change.
It looks like a horrible thing to happen to anything.

[dipsydoodle]

4. Is it true

that there are no hedgehogs in the USA ?

[Davis_X_Machina]

5. You can import them as pets...

...but there are pretty severe restrictions at the Federal and State level. I've seen a couple up here in ME.

No one seems to want a pet porcupine -- a hedgehog the size of a breadbox with a seriously bad attitude and the ability to eat nearly anything, including canoe paddles. (They love the salt from sweaty hands on the handles...)

[dipsydoodle]

6. My had daughter had thought

that might be the case. She found the picture below for me the other day. :) I remember about 30 years on a sunny afternoon hearing snuffling noises at the end of the garden and walked down just in time to see a baby one roll down from the top of a compost heap with the mother looking for it. We used to put bread and milk out from them 'till we found that's not really a good idea. Great animals - they eat slugs. Don't see them where I live now - too many fences I guess as opposed to hedges which they can navigate more easily.