HOGWATCH

Clocks go back, Covid cases rise, Christmas could be cancelled and no doubt there’s a mega Arctic blast coming just to add to the triple whammy that’s happy slapping us all the way to this year’s festive season.   Ugh!  Winter is coming and things are going to get ugly… 

But never mind eh.  Nothing puts a smile on your face quicker than hedgehogs.

 

One of our 'hoggy' visitors

Hedgehogs are so cute but extremely rare these days thanks to mankind’s wanton destruction of hedgerows and obsession with meticulously manicured gardens.  We’ve destroyed their habitats just to improve ours but quite frankly, in most cases I can’t really see that its much of an improvement. 

However, we’re hoping to redress the balance by making sure our resident hedgehog population doesn’t face the same bleak winter we will so welcome to ‘Hogwatch’, the neighbourhood’s answer to Blue Planet but on a shoestring budget. 

Almost every night, a hungry hoggy or two waddle through the flower borders to feast on a special porcelain platter filled with dried hedgehog food that we’ve left on the patio.

This is the smallest of our hedgehog visitors

So far, we’ve spotted at least 3 different visitors who appear completely unfazed by the spellbound audience watching their antics through the patio door.  Hogwatch is far better than the reality dross served up on TV and cheaper as no licence fee to pay.

 

Cute and very hungry

Lend us a camera, Sir David as my digital one is a bit pants when it comes to night photography.

 

Pictures taken through the patio doors

Just to assure all you readers out there – no hedgehogs were harmed in the taking of these very dark and grainy pictures.

That explains why the bird bowl is always empty

Middle sized hoggy with darker side streak

Fits perfectly into the bird bowl