First of all, thank you - for all your support over this ‘interesting’ time. Thank you for the kind words, thank you for the coffee and books (!) and thank you for continuing the good fight! If you are already signed up to my petition, I apologise for the duplicate post.
So it seems that I have been a stereotypical middle-age bloke … in that I thought I was better and I should have known better (no, my wife is not standing behind me now dictating those words … but …) Those of you who commented when I mentioned going in for the hernia operation and said that it could be 4-6 weeks before you are back to full steam, well, I did scoff a little. But oh how wrong I was and how right you were … I will spare you the gory details … I am, however, getting there.
Hedgehog Awareness Week was busy, and I missed out on a lot of the fun as I was still recuperating. But I hope those of you who were able to join the Evening With Hedgehog Street enjoyed the show … I think we will be doing similar things again. And if you were not able to join us - here it is - all two hours of hedgehoggy goodness! I am on at the end, but it is really worth hearing from the campaigners and researchers along the way.
Some new research has been published from Abi Gazzard, a PhD student funded by the BHPS and PTES. She has been looking at how hedgehogs use gardens and this gives us a little more evidence to back up our key campaigning messages. The hedgehogs she followed used an average of over eight gardens per night - highlighting the importance of ensuring that they can get into the gardens. And the two key factors that seemed to draw hogs to the yard - supplementary food and compost heaps.
Of those two I would argue that the most important are the compost heaps … because most people will only start to put out food when they have seen a hedgehog … so the heap is the lure! Make a hole, make a heap - and see what comes your way!
And if you have any sightings - do log them on the Big Hedgehog Map.
I have just looked at my diary - there is so much to do, and having been a bit out of action, there is so much more to do … but I cannot escape one date … 16th May … not only is it my wife’s birthday (hi Zoe!) - but it is also the first day of my boy Pip’s GCSEs - oh, it is tough - he is stressed, and there are thousands more people feeling just the same - maybe in your household. So - I wish Pip and all the examined - good luck and the hope for a sunny, fun-filled, summer when they are all over. I love to think of the potential ecologists - perhaps inadvertently starting their career with these exams … and I love the fact that soon, thanks to the amazing work of Mary Colwell, students will be able to study for a GCSE in Natural History - maybe sparking more ecologists into life!
And to illustrate why we need a GCSE in Natural History? An image from the Rochester Bestiary, produced in around 1230, showing hedgehogs doing what hedgehogs NEVER do … this is why we need to study nature!! The more we learn, the more we marvel and the more we can do to help!