Spike The Hedgehog by Chris Beever

 

Wildlife Tales by Chris Beever

Spike the Hedgehog

With the Questionable heat and settled weather of the summer “where and when i hear you cry” quickly disappearing and the onset of another season, bringing the colder autumnal winds, it was time yet again “whoopee from me” to catch up with one of my welcome garden visitors my young mate Spike.

I think you know which member of the wildlife community I am talking about just by the name, yep that’s it i am talking about every gardener’s friend my mate, Spike the Hedgehog, a regular autumnal visitor of mine and many others in the uk that ventures into my garden and gardens throughout the uk, for the seasonal crop of juicy snails and slugs and earthworms that are brought to life this time of year by the onslaught of the autumn rains and the wealth of fallen fruits that lay on the ground.

Living close to a large area that has been left alone to form a nature reserve containing habitats that are accommodating a wealth of local wildlife is an advantage to a budding photographer Like myself and I certainly appreciate the wildlife that is calling my nearby home their play ground especially spike and his friends that to be quite honest are the cutest things on four legs.

With my camera gear at the ready and the kettle not to far away cancelling out the need for an all important flask of coffee, I waited to see if spike would come out for his early dawn slug much and as usual I was not disappointed as good old spike gently peered out from the shadows and then trotted over to his favourite patch of the garden that is also home to a wealth of slugs and snails.

After switching through my collection of lenses and getting my much needed close up shots of the prickly Lancashire lad I decided that payment in the form of some chicken cat food which spike loves would be a welcomed and beneficial treat to my little friend and I sat back and watched as good old spike licked the plate clean.

When good old spike had done his job by posing for my latest snap shots and once all traces of food had gone spike trotted off as only hedgehogs can with his behind waggling and his nose to the ground, back to his little pile of leaves under his favourite bit of garden hedgerow for a bit of a snooze.

Being Nocturnal it is often said that if you see a hedgehog during the day it may be sick or injured and this is generally the case, in autumn it is usually the young ones like spike that are searching hard to find the food they need to store their fat ready for their winter hibernation.

Nearly every small, medium and large garden in the UK has a visiting hedgehog or even a family of hedgehogs as long as you have snails and slugs and the garden can be entered under a gate or through a hedge they will find you.

 

Things you might need to know

Hedgehogs are easily recognized by their spines which are hollow hairs made stiff with keratin their spines are not poisonous or barbed and, unlike the quills of porcupine they cannot easily be removed from the hedgehog. However, there spines normally come out when a hedgehog sheds baby spines and replaces them with adult spines. This is called "quilling." When under extreme stress or during sickness, a hedgehog can also lose spines.

All hedgehogs possess the stamina to run; many can make 4.5 miles per hour or better, and are particularly adept at climbing steep walls, trees, and fences and even swimming.

Hedgehogs occasionally perform a ritual called anointing, when the hedgehog encounters a new scent, it will lick and bite the source, then form a scented froth in its mouth and paste it onto its spines with its tongue. The specific purpose of this ritual is unknown, but some experts believe anointing camouflages the hedgehog with the new scent of the area and provides a possible poison or source of infection to predators poked by their spines many of you will wake up in the summer to find a newly creosoted or painted fence has a new bare patch “could this be the hedgehog at work”?.

If you want to know more about the hedgehog visit http://www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk/ for help and advice on how to help our cute spiny friends.