A CANADIAN hedgehog expert last night said pygmy hedgehogs probably would not become an environmental nuisance for Bermuda, but importing skunks would be a disaster.

The Mid-Ocean News contacted Bryan Smith, founder of the International Hedgehog Association, after it was revealed that plans were in the works to import exotic pets such as skunks and African pygmy hedgehogs to be sold as expensive pets.

Local naturalists are furious, because the potential escape and breeding of these animals could ravage Bermuda's fragile eco-system.

Mr. Smith, a professional photographer, has 52 hedgehogs of his own. The association has membership on three continents.

"I have a concern about hedgehogs being lumped in with skunks," he said. "I don't consider skunks to be a good pet.

"I live in a very wild part of British Columbia. I don't know many people with skunks. They are expensive because of the cost of de-scenting them. There was an attempt to turn them into a pet animal in the US for a while and it just hasn't happened.

"Skunks would definitely have more of an impact on the environment than hedgehogs. Most skunks you get would be likely to be neutered and spayed, but there would always be the risk they wouldn't be spayed or neutered."

He says skunks make quite a nuisance of themselves.

"There is the smell," he said. "I know you have a number of problems with protecting wild birds there, especially ground-nesting birds. The skunks would wreak havoc on them." British Columbia does not allow the importation of European hedgehogs, but there are other parts of North America that do and he says the type of hedgehogs he has as pets are not indigenous to his part of Canada, but they would not survive in the wild.

"I don't think they would breed quickly," he said. "There is always the potential for them to get out and breed. There is always a risk. Whenever considering things like that you have to consider how extreme the risk is. You have to consider these little fellows are not a tropical animal. They are native to the high savannah in Africa. They like a drier climate. When they were first imported, they were trapped around garbage dumps."

He says his hedgehogs are given good quality cat or kitten food. They eat off their plate or his.

"They will eat anything that humans will eat," he said.

But Mr. Smith said he had noticed that the African pygmies imported from the United States were hybrids and not a pure species.

"They are a hybrid," he said. "There is considerable difference between them and their counterparts. I don't think they would survive in the wild given the ideal climate and opportunity."

He said African pygmies should be kept indoors. They went into shock if the temperature fell below 70 degrees Fahrenheit or rose above 80.

"I don't see them surviving in the wild," he said. "I would suspect they wouldn't do terribly well there. They prefer a dry climate. These fellows are nothing like English hedgehogs. There is no comparison.

"I have been breeding hedgehogs for eight years. Any hedgehog breeder can tell you they do not breed prolifically.

"They make wonderful pets. I have heard of a few cases of abandonment. However, the incidences are rare. For the most part it is related to the ignorance of the animal's owner. People get them without understanding them. We have been able to improve the situation by education." He said there were abandonment problems mainly when the hedgehogs were available cheaply. Now their availability had decreased and their prices had increased.

"It's sad, but people place more of an intrinsic value on something if they have paid more for it," he said.

He said he had never been to Bermuda, but it was on his to-do list. He had read about the birds of Bermuda.

"We have similar problems with escaped species here," he said. "There are a number of climates in the US that are more conducive than Bermuda for hedgehogs. And there have been no incidences of feral hedgehog problems. In some states there are licensing such as Arizona.

"All mammals can carry rabies, hoof and mouth disease. I don't think the risk is greater than it is in any other animal. The only concern on importation is external parasites. That is easily controlled."

HE said some people thought of the English hedgehogs and wanted a hedgehog to control the slugs in their gardens. "In that case, I will not sell to them," he said. "They are just not suited for that. They should be kept in an enclosure indoors."

A local Bermudian naturalist, who did not wish to be named, said Bermuda did not need another introduced feral species.

"They are talking about bringing in skunks now," she said. "Where are they going to draw the line? I hope that people will voice their objection and it will be dropped from the list."

She said man should not try to play God. She likened it to the story of the Sorcerer's Apprentice, where once the apprentice takes the magic broom out of the closet, it becomes totally independent and there is no controlling it.

"That's what it amounts to if we bring something here that can't be confined," she said. "It is ill-advised and cruel to import the African pygmy hedgehogs and skunks. Hamsters, guinea-pigs, dogs and cats are fine for children," she said. "Why do we need the exotic pets?"

The naturalist recalled when there was a colony of guinea pigs at Spittal Pond.

"Someone released a pair," she said. "Within six weeks two guinea pigs had turned into 24. They were devastating the environment. They were undermining the soil. Some could have broken their leg."

She said in the past people had tried to sneak snakes into Bermuda.

"This person tried to bring five young snakes in," she said. "Fortunately, we found out about it. If these things did get out it would have been disastrous. All of our birds are so tame and gentle they would have been wiped out."

She said in the United States there was a craze for ferrets, but many of them were abandoned when people realised they were not always ideal.

"They can be quite aggressive," she said. "I know one person had to have stiches."

The naturalist also said Bermuda should also look at the importation of fish and plants.

"People here have dumped aquatic plants from their aquariums and that is what is jamming up our ditches now," she said. "We used to just have a pretty duck weed. Now we have something called salvina. It looks like a cabbage. There is one example after another.

"People had Russian olives growing in their gardens. The Abbot's Cliff area is now being overrun by that. It was brought in as a garden ornamental. In the plant world alone we have so many mistakes and we are paying the price.

"Even our crows are not native. In the late 19th century someone brought them in from Canada and now our longtails' eggs and chicks are being threatened by crows. All these innocent introductions give us more and more trouble."