To all my much-missed friends

25 Sep '07 5:20 am

Hi Bambi!
I've been following your thread full of lovely and unusual news -I've never seen snake hatchlings before! - and I love your hedgehog story. I discovered one in my garden in Johannesburg years ago, mistaking its scurrying in the undergrowth for a particularly slow rat! I tried to find its 'owner' the next day as I thought they were exotic, but none of the neighbours owned up. So I took it to the zoo where they told me it was a common inhabitant of compost heaps and quite indigenous. I arrived two hours late for work and to this day when I visit with my ex-colleagues they mock me for the most original excuse ever for arriving late for work: 'had to take a hedgehog to the zoo' Laughing

25 Sep '07 5:41 am

Bambi, I am lucky to say that we have some passers-by in our garden....Two early Springs ago I discovered one awakening under the hedge and tree prunings, behind our garden shed. We tenderly drove him with Nicholas to the nearby forest and placed him safe under some leaves..Last Autumn I discovered one sleeping near our glass-house --he disappeared the following morning...

26 Sep '07 12:56 am

Well, I have to agree with Mark that hedgehogs are a lot cuter than some of the critters we have in our gardens on this side of the "pond". Opossum, Raccoon (which can be cute, but very frustrating and destructive) and, here in the south, Armadillos (which are really strange looking creatures that unfortunately like to burrow in nice soft soil). We do have cute little chipmunks, but they too spell disaster for a garden. I have been battling these critters in my gardens all summer. They have tunneled into my raised beds and berms (probably feasting on my tulip bulbs in the process) and planted sunflower seeds stolen from my bird feeders in all my garden beds. Oh for a cute little creature like a hedgehog. Visions of Beatrix Potter tales.

27 Sep '07 2:32 am

Hi everyone. I feel like I'm thanking you every time I reply to your posts and am running out of variations on how to say it! Rolling Eyes

I appreciate so much, not only your considerable advice and help, but the fact that you all show such interest in things! I don't think it's just politeness (we are not at home to Mr Paranoia!) but a true wish to know about what's normal for an English garden, or a Belgian, South African, Australian, American.... not to mention a New Zealand garden! - at least that's how I feel. My colleagues at work have a little interest in gardening, but I never get to really have any kind of discussion about it, and they all think I'm completely crazy for keeping snakes and for my belief that animals are better than humans (present company excluded, of course!), so it's wonderful to know so many people who share the same passions and obsessions and for this, I thank you all.

Anyway, enough of my speech! Dixie, good advice - I've been looking it up on the net and apparently weetabix, muesli and raisins are good foods to put out that cats won't eat (well, in theory anyway Very Happy

), or you can put a paving slab on top of some bricks and the cats won't be able to get under to steal the food, so I'm going to try both.

Yes the beetle does look fearsome, but he's really not! They can't actually close those "antlers" with any kind of force, they use them just like deer do with their antlers - for displaying to females and pushing against other males for dominance.

Pumpkin, thanks for the help with the garlic. I've had them drying in a lid from a cardboard box and I think it's doing the job. Unfortunately, just before I lifted them from the garden, I'd just bought three bulbs from the supermarket (good planning!) and I'm just about finishing them off before starting on my own and I can't wait! Re the size of the bulbs, I've been speaking to my Mum, who also grew garlic for the first time this year and we've decided that we're both going to plant them a bit earlier (I do think I was a bit late in planting them in December) and lift them a bit later - this summer, I was worried about leaving them too long, but we both wonder if we didn't give them enough time to bulk up. Anyway, I'm expecting delivery of my bulbs to plant this year any day now, so we'll see...

Mark, I absolutely adore hedgehogs, they are one of our cutest wild creatures, despite the spines! A few years ago, Mum and I went to a hedgehog hospital where they rescued orphaned and injured hedgehogs (a lot of them get hit by cars Crying or Very sad

) and we were allowed to hold one and she was just adorable! I remember feeling so privileged to be able to touch such an elusive, shy creature.

As for the beetle, yes they are native to England and are our scariest-looking creature. Laughing

Hee hee! Actually, joking aside, that’s probably true, unless you’re an arachnophobe, of course! Our House Spiders are coming out in force at the moment – apparently it’s mating season and all the boy spiders are running around trying to find girlfriends, so even where we are in the suburbs, we get quite a few scuttling across the sitting room floor from time to time. Pity the poor hapless spider that gets spotted by our insectivorious cats though! Laughing

Jack, your ‘late for work’ story made me laugh so much! I think mainly because I’d do exactly the same if I found a creature in need! I have, in fact, been about 15 minutes late before, when I found a dead badger in the road, but nothing like your story. We also thought our hedgehog was a rat to begin with as he was scuttling around beneath the bird table, eating the seeds that had fallen, but we managed to get quite close to him and were so pleased he wasn’t a rat! Mind you, they do say that, living in London, you’re never more than a few metres away from a rat at any given time, even if that’s a vertical distance (i.e. they’re in the sewers beneath us) Shocked

.

By the way, Jack, I’ve printed off all your wonderful posts from the past couple of days so I can read them at my leisure and will reply in more detail when I’ve had a chance to look at them properly.

Dear Liza, your own story warmed my heart too, although I must just say this to anyone else reading this: I have no doubt that you were careful with your hedgehog friend, but people must make sure there aren’t any babies that are waiting back at the nest before moving any creature, as the parent might not be able to get back to them and they’d die. I’m sure you yourself were mindful of this as you’re such a thoughtful, sensitive creature yourself, but I just thought that someone else coming along and reading your post might think otherwise. I hope you didn’t mind me mentioning this.

And Faith, your own creatures sound so interesting, although I have heard of the destructive natures of raccoons. Your little chipmunks have an equal over here too though, I think, in our mole. They love to burrow through gardens and fields, forcing the excavated earth up to the surface to make their little mole-hills! Rolling Eyes

Here, for you and Jack (and everyone else of course!) is a picture of Beatrix Potter’s Mrs Tiggywinkle. All together now… Aaah!

Anyway, as for garden news, my cyclamen have arrived now, I’ve got three white and five pink, plus there was a free gift of a Hebe Heartbreaker which I’ve potted on before planting it in the ground as it was a little shaken up when it arrived – the joys of mail-order! I’m still awaiting some delphiniums/delphinia and digitalis which they say should arrive in October when they’re dormant and safe to transport. I’m really looking forward to planting the cyclamen though and, although they may not flower the first year, I’m hoping they will grow and grow to eventually make a gorgeous carpet!

Well that’s about it at the moment – autumn is definitely here now (chilly mornings, leaves turning gold and red, etc.) and I’ve given up on summer and am looking forward to all the things I can start preparing for next year!

27 Sep '07 5:12 am

Bambi, thank you for your comments !! It is such a great feeling learning more while growing up! I have no general knowledge of hedgehogs. But I do believe , that the 10 and more cats that might pass through my garden , could harm a hedgehog, and especially a baby one. The thing is , that THAT hedgehog was not a tiny baby , but let's say an...independent teenager -- in human calculation.. And it was already Spring time, action time for...a teenager!

28 Sep '07 1:33 pm

Ahhh! Thanks for posting the picture of Mrs. Tiggywinkle. I actually have a stuffed animal version of Mrs. Tiggywinkle. At one time when my girls were growing up I started a collection of Beatrix Potter stuffed animals for one or the other of them. The girls are long gone, but the stuffed animals still live with me. I sort of like having them around.

28 Sep '07 1:46 pm

I love the way hedgehogs defend themselves against dogs - and here I specifically mean Rusty the dog, who is simply incredibly nosy about what these prickly balls actually are. I do not sense any killing urges in him, but he would spend hours worrying a hedgehog and barking at it, if allowed. He'll even pick large ones up and carry them around, which must be incredibly a horrible feeling (not for the hedgehog, fortified, but for the dog's mouth, which is soft and sensitive).

In summer I worry that my hedgehogs can find water when they need it. They sometimes seem to end up stranded in silly places, well away from the pond and the streams here. Bambi - muesli and the like is great for them. I try not to raise their cholestrol levels too much with processed food!

We are taught that over 90% of hedgehogs in the NZ wild have ringworm, so they should be handled carefully, if at all. It's the same as Jack's wild Kruger Park animals - there's enough joy sometimes in just observing, and watching, and we can enjoy these animals so much this way!

Cheers, and let's hear it for Mrs TiggyWinkle!

29 Sep '07 2:34 am

Liza, I've been reading up on hedgehogs quite a bit recently and I think they would be ok with cats because, when they're curled up in a ball, their muscles are actually really strong and I think a cat wouldn't have the strength to pry it apart. Badgers have strong forearms and claws so they are a danger to hedgehogs though.

Oh, Liza, I knew you would not have done anything if there was a risk!

And Faith, my own mother still has loads of our stuffed toys so you're by no means alone! Very Happy

Silly old Rusty the dog, eh? Bless him and his ways! I do hope he doesn't hurt himself!

To all my much-missed friends

Mrs. Tiggy-winkle

Baby hedgehogs.

Hedgehogs

Hedgehog baby??

Mrs. Tiggywinkle