March 10th 2013

Hedgehog News!

Matthew found a hedgehog hibernating in our walled garden. Let me introduce Matthew. He is 15 years old, lives round the corner, he loves olives and pan boli and he helps Finn and I most weekends in the garden.

We were clearing last years herbaceous perennials and suddenly we heard the shout “hedgehog!”

Lo and behold Matthew had found a Hedgehog Hibernation Nest with occupying hedgehog. This was mid march the weather was cold, wet and due to get colder and windier. I believed that a hedgepig at this time of year might be running out of fat reserves and meeting a whole new batch of cold weather just when in other years they would have come out of their winter sleep and be building up their body weight again would be bad, very bad. So, on advice from a Hedgehog rescue centre I brought the whole nest into our unheated greenhouse and put down dried cat biscuits and water.

Our hedgehog came out of hibernation about a week later and his been demolishing large amounts of dried cat biscuits, water and tinned cat food  (chicken and turkey as advised by the hedgehog refuge) He goes out of the greenhouse at night and returns to sleep in his box during the day. He is obviously consuming  beetles at night aswell as our supplementary food as his poo is full of shiny bits of beetle and other insects.

We are thrilled that this hedgehog decided to grace our walled garden with it’s presence and would love to find a mate for him or her.

Will keep the story updated. I’ll post a picture when he/ she shows her snout.