I have manifested a hedgehog. Impressive no? It all began when the biggest boy saw a hedgehog when he was away camping. He'd never seen one before and he was absolutely thrilled. It was eating some peanuts he had dropped near his tent.
Fast forward to a few days ago and we had been talking about hedgehogs on and off and I asked him if he wanted a hedgehog house for Christmas. I had an idea to make the garden all welcoming and nice for hedgehogs. When we first moved in here, over ten years ago, there was a dead hedgehog in the back lane, but other than that I've never seen one, although the middle boy has.
Anyway, the biggest boy said that yes, he would love a hedgehog house for Christmas. We had a long conversation about how brilliant they all are and I had a look online for some hedgehog houses, then in the evening, the dog and I and the littlest boy set off on our evening dog walk. The dog pulled us round in a very determined fashion, more so than usual, even lying down in the middle of the road at one point and refusing to go a certain way.
So we ended up going on an odd, long, around-the-houses walk, the littlest boy moaning that he wanted to go home and eat crisps and not walk for miles in the dark and then suddenly, ambling across the road in front of us, AN ACTUAL REAL LIFE HEDGEHOG. I was absolutely beside myself, hardly able to believe my eyes, chanting over and over, 'What is it, what is it, what is it?' just in case it was a large rat having a bad hair day or something. But no, actual hedgehog! He was completely unconcerned, checking out the gutter then wandering up a driveway and along a flowerbed. He must have been in view for at least five minutes.
The biggest boy and I have been back since to look but we haven't seen him (or her) again and after the day I saw him it's all gone a bit chilly so he might be hunkering down. Anyway, I feel very much that the universe sent me a hedgehog as a sign that I need to press forward with operation Hedgehog-Friendly Garden. I have read all about them and apparently they will be okay with a pond so long as there is a way to climb out. I may have to leave the garden to be a bit messy...
Elsewhere around here people are hacking things back like mad which is making me furious. I shall stand against the tide and plant things and pile up leaves and put in trees and shelters and all the things. And try and engage politely with the cutting-things-back people.
Hedgehog photo by Nicolas Savigat via Unsplash, as I don't actually have one myself yet, but I am daring to dream.
A hedgehog house sounds wonderful. When I was young and living in rural Hertfordshire there was a hedgehog that came around and my mother would put a saucer of food out for it in the depths of winter. It was rather a mysterious colourful sight, as it had some threads of wool that were attached to some of its spikes/quills?
ReplyDeleteOh I do hope a hedgehog comes your way. None in our garden that I can see but we have a rather solid wall around the garden. Not sure how well hedgehogs climb. Middle son has a wooden garden fence with holes as he has a regular hedgehog visitor called marmaduke. They don’t see him for months and then he returns.
ReplyDeleteNot sure the best way to entice them in. Maybe a trail of peanuts. Hoping your hedgehog house has a resident very soon. B x
Lucky you seeing a hedgehog like that. Sadly it's been many years since I last saw one. I hope that you do encourage one to visit your garden. xx
ReplyDeleteHow wonderful. You should hone your skill of asking the Universe for things - maybe you could manifest a winning lottery ticket?! R made me a hedgehog house for our 'homemade Christmas' last year. To be honest, I don't know if it's ever been used. It is buried under a load of shrubbery and I don't like to look in case I disturb something. We do see the odd hedgehog in the garden though, so it might have a resident. I think I'll try scattering a few peanuts around! xx
ReplyDeleteI love every bit of this, especially your stand against the hacking things back tide!
ReplyDeleteHedgehogs in the garden... that would mean endless delight, and well worth leaf piles, and whatever else they require. I will be rooting for you!
They like cat food. Not bread and milk which is not good for them. The one you saw was out pretty late, your Christmas Hedgehog house is unlikely to get a tenant this year but if from warm spring days you leave out cat food, peanuts/peanut butter, malt loaf near the HH you could well get one. Congratulations on trying to preserve this fast decreasing species. BTW they can climb a 6' fence if it has paw grips and mating is extremely long and noisy.
ReplyDeleteWe have had a hedgehog house in the garden for years and nothing in it and then this year we saw a big hedgehog going in and out and then two tiny hedgehogs appeared as well!!
ReplyDeleteWe saw them round the garden for about five weeks and then they all seemed to disappear and we haven't seen them since. The good news is we didn't see any squished hedgehogs either on the estate, so I'm hoping they've just gone off for a good explore and they may be back at some point. We have gaps under gates and there's always leaves and bushes to get under, but the hedgehog house has now paid its way, allowing us to support a hedgehog family.
Oh how brilliant, I LOVE this. We waited quite a while for birds to find out nest box, but they are in there most years now. Maybe things need to bed in a bit. CJ xx
DeleteHow wonderful for you! They are not native in the US, so I have never seen one, but I know that it is legal to keep them for pets - which I do not like. To me, a wild animal is a wild animal, and should be allowed to enjoy his/her life. I hope you are successful in enticing one your way.
ReplyDeleteYou manifested an actually actual hedgehog! Oh wow, you lucky thing!! I lived for 20 odd years in the countryside and never have I seen a real live one. I'm very jealous. Hope your polite engaging works - people never change entrenched views on the basis of shouting, but sometimes a gentle example and conversations help. Txx
ReplyDeleteWe used to get lots of hedgehogs in the garden, It was like a hedgehog super highway on the lawn. Now we only see them occasionally. You may have read that peanuts need to be crushed as whole ones can damage their jaws. We used to crush those dry dog food nibbles too. Although you can also get a similar hedgehog specific dry food. After they had eaten they used to spend ages lapping up water. They used to become really aggressive when they bumped into another hedgehog near to food.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know that about peanuts Sue, thanks for the tip. Love the image of a hedgehog super highway, brilliant. CJ xx
DeleteHow wonderful! I do hope a hedgehog takes up residence in your hedgehog home in due course. A few years ago now, younger daughter found a baby hedgehog roaming about in the lane by our garden in broad daylight, being concerned that this was not normal she insisted we took it in. So a shoe box was found and we homed the little hedgehog for a couple of days, feeding it cat food, until we found a local pet rescue place that would take him/her. I like to think it lived a long and happy life!
ReplyDeleteI am very envious of your hedgehog sighting. I hope it finds a home in your garden. Our garden is fortified against Jack Russell escapes so unfortunately also no way for hedgehogs to come in. I've never seen a life one here in Glasgow. Keep us up to date with any further hedgehog developments x
ReplyDeleteIt's a magical thing to see a hedgehog, isn't it? We have them in our garden from time to time although we don't have a house for them - I assume that they choose to come and go through the gardens on either side of us but there are places for them to live if they wanted to (I don't like to think about the size of community of all sorts of animals that might live under our shed!) I think a hedgehog-friendly garden sounds lovely - good luck with it! :) xx
ReplyDeleteThey are sadly a rare sight these days aren't they. We do occasionally see them near our house but it has been a while now. I like the idea of a hedgehog friendly garden and always leave mine like that over the winter. I hope you manage to attract hedgehogs to your garden.
ReplyDeleteHow exciting sounds like a good plan to make your garden friendly for hedgehogs. Not wishing to trump you but on a walk round the sheep last week with the dog I nearly jumped out of my skin when after hearing rustling in some long bracken on a bank I was literally bowled over by a deer jumping out across my toes. My heart was in my mouth! Jo xx
ReplyDeleteHow brilliant. I remember we took the middle boy fishing a while back and a deer almost ran over the biggest boy when we arrived, so I know what you mean about the shock effect. They are lying in wait! CJ xx
DeleteIt is such a thrill to see a hedgehog. I saw a big one in the summer in someone else’s garden.I couldn’t believe the noise it was making long before it was visible. We had one years ago that fell into an inspection pit that we’d dug for subsidence monitoring. We put a ramp in for it. My garden has not been chopped back. I’m glad this is a good thing.
ReplyDeleteSo fun! I have never heard of hedgehogs out and about and wonder if there are none in my part of the world. I hope your garden plan and hedgehog house go well!
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