Our Amazing Little Friend

Took a little walk up the garden, with my beloved, before lunch to feed the goldfish. We then went to check if there were any apples remaining, on the trees in the 'wildife' area of the garden. Walking back down the lawn, Helen made a sudden startled movement, which in turn made me jump. The cause of the start, a little hedgehog well 'balled up' in the middle of the lawn had been the cause of Helen's 'trip'. The little creature, which could have almost been mistaken for a tussock of brown coarse grass, had found a strange place to rest as, being the middle of the day we didn't expect 'Tiggy' to be out for a walk. Normally, at most, we catch a fleeting nocturnal glimpse of these creatures.

Next step, get out my gardening gloves to pick him/her up and see if she was OK. Tiggy seemed to be having a little doze but, was he simply stunned? Carried the little fella (or fella-ess, whatever the gender may be) up to the wilder area of the garden and placed it under the bushes.

By mid-afternoon, when I'd recovered from my mini-collapse (detailed by Heterocon), went to check up on our new found friend but, there was no trace of the creature. Half-an-hour later, when ma belle had returned from the Doctor's surgery, we spotted wee 'Tiggy' on the concrete near the back door, head to one side and, looking totally pitiful. Once more, on with the gardening gloves and Tiggy was placed in a box with some wee morsels of sliced chicken and a drop of water. The worrying thing was that he didn't 'ball-up' when I went to pick him up, the vulnerability of the weak perhaps! It wasn't long, however, before we heard a delightfully repeated 'shlurrup' as he made short work of his first course.

Being concerned about the little fella's well-being, Helen phoned the RSPCA who suggested we take Tiggy to a local vets to be checked out. During the car journey, the hedgehog became a little more lively. The vet thought it seemed quite healthy, relatively tic free and with good strong limbs. The most worrying factor was his weight, a mere 275gms; will it be possible to attain the sugggested 550-600gms required to survive the hibernation period.

On return home, we hastily erected a makeshift hedgehog house ... lined out with dry leaves and, released Tiggy near it's entrance. Next requirement was to purchase some meat (not fish) cat food as, we intend to leave some food out for him each evening, to help him put on weight and gain some strength. If we catch a glimpse of him and, he seems to be failing, we'll have to find a box for him in the top shed to protect him from the frosts when they arrive.