The Garden Community for Garden Lovers

Story of an Hedgehog

julien

By julien

9 comments


Having seen the recent question about Hedgehogs, i thought i would share this lovely story with you all,, it was November 1993, and in the large dillapidated shed i had a huge heap of garden waste from my jobs, i decided to move the rubbish out of the shed, it had been there for aprox two weeks, so i grabbed the pitchfork and started clearing the rubish, i noticed a little pink thing whoich i thought was a baby mouse, but to my amazement was a young hedgehog,it was aprox two days old, was blind and the spines were white and just starting to form, anyway, i went through all the rubbish very carefully, the mother was ok and in total i found seven baby hedgehogs, i put the heap back and made a small nest put the mother in with the young and left alone, next day they were all gone, now the mother hedgehog would normally abandon her young or even eat them in these circumstances, so i feared the worst, so the next night i put some water out and a saucer of catfood in the shed and waited, she appeared from under the old pallet flooring to feed, each night she would come out, between 6 and 8 after a week and half i watched and she came out as usual followed by, yes all seven little hedge hogs, this continued and i watched them bulk up, it was such a joy watching, on one morning i went down the garden and in the pond was one of the young barely alive, i had a couple of planks in the pond if this werte to happen but the young one just diddent find them, so i fished it out and drove to the vets, i had it in a box it looked really grim and thought it would be dead by the time i arrived at the vets, anyhow i left it with them and two days later i recieved a call to say he was fine and he had been deflead and some ticks had been removed, so i brought him back and let him go in the old shed, off he scurried under the pallets, i obseved them for a further week and then nothing, so i presume they hibernated, but weather the young survived i dont know, it was the first week in december not sure they reached the correct weight for hibernation, hope you enjoyed this little story.

More blog posts by julien

Previous post: A riot of colour

Next post: My Alottment cottage garden.



Comments

 

what a lovely story.

22 Aug, 2011

 

Julien you lucky person! It is surprising that Mum hadn't gone into hibernation at that time of year isn't it - perhaps it was a very mild autumn. Do hope they all lived through the winter.

22 Aug, 2011

 

I certainly did enjoy it Julien.

22 Aug, 2011

 

Good story Julian, lets hope they survived, one can only hope, you did your best...

22 Aug, 2011

 

lovely.

23 Aug, 2011

 

Loved it Julien:)

23 Aug, 2011

 

Thanks for the replys.

24 Aug, 2011

 

I missed this lovely story Julien, I think hedgehogs are such wonderful little creatures. They were so lucky it was a caring person like you who disturbed them. I haven't seen a live hedgehog for some time, people are so ready to use poisons now. Lets hope this little family is still thriving, though I do fear for all wildlife in this dreadful weather:-)

26 Mar, 2013

 

I missed this blog too. It is a lovely story. I do hope it had a happy ending. Another member sent me a hedgehog fable which you might enjoy.
It was the coldest winter ever. Many animals died because of the cold.
The Hedgehogs, realizing the situation, decided to group together to keep warm.
This way they covered and protected themselves; but the quills of each one wounded their closest companions.
After a while, they decided to distance themselves one from the other and they began to die, alone and frozen.So they had to make a choice; either accept the quills of their companions or disappear from the Earth.
Wisely, they decided to go back to being together.They learned to live with the little wounds caused by the close relationship with their companions in order to receive the heat that came from the others. This way they were able to survive.
The best relationship is not the one that brings together perfect people, but when each individual learns to live with the imperfections of others and can admire the other person's good qualities.
Just learn to live with the pricks in your life!

5 Oct, 2013

Add a comment

Recent posts by julien

Members who like this blog

  • Gardening with friends since
    10 Sep, 2010

  • Gardening with friends since
    8 Apr, 2010

  • Gardening with friends since
    9 Aug, 2009

  • Gardening with friends since
    13 Feb, 2011

  • Gardening with friends since
    31 May, 2011

  • Gardening with friends since
    22 Oct, 2008

  • Gardening with friends since
    20 Apr, 2010

  • Gardening with friends since
    14 Aug, 2008

  • Gardening with friends since
    20 May, 2009

  • Gardening with friends since
    14 Jun, 2010