HEDGEHOG HEAVEN

Hedgehog Heaven

 

In these lockdown times there are few new experiences to enjoy home (almost) alone. However one of my groundhog days was highlighted by finding hedgehog poo on my lawn! And it definitely was hedgehog poo — I know my poos. I’m a bit of an expert in that sort of thing. Excited? Yes! I rarely see a hedgehog in my garden so seeing some of its poo was the next best thing. These lovable but endangered creatures are cherished by most of us and if they visit your garden you are a lucky hogger indeed. Unfortunately, reasons for their demise are tidy gardeners and being flattened by vehicles on the roads. How drivers do not see them or maybe consider it an excuse for some target practice I do not know. 

Two nights later I saw it, a small prickly form in the dark. I leave my outhouse door open in the summer so my cats can come and go as they wish without negotiating cat flaps, their cat food left out in bowls. And there was Hoggie with his face in the cat food, but scuttling off when I turned on the light. Hoggie has become a frequent visitor since, and on one occasion brought a friend. It took me two weeks to get a photo, tiptoeing in the dark with my mobile phone at the ready, but making too much noise tripping over flowerpots, cursing aloud and what-have-you. Wildlife photographer I am not.

One morning I came downstairs and on the lounge floor were two healthy deposits of hedgehog poo in front of the tv. Hoggie had squeezed through the cat flap and taken a tour of the house before leaving a critique of the lockdown television schedule right in front of the screen . . . I tend to agree.

It's a poor photo I know. But it took a week to get Hoggie to pose.