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Waterlogged hogs and racing squirrels I'm afraid it was a sad story from a fellow naturalist that marked the end of 2006 for me. She was dismayed just before Christmas to discover a very dead hedgehog in her garden pond. This was the more distressing because the pond was carefully designed with the safety of such small creatures in mind. Hedgehogs can swim well if they need to, but often drown because they can't scramble out of the water. It's essential to have escape routes available, as this pond has. Contrary to popular belief, hedgehogs do wake up several times during hibernation and, if the weather is mild, may occasionally venture out and go for a forage round or even move to a new nest. It's a high-risk time, as they need to find enough food to balance the energy expended in waking and moving about. It seems likely that our friend's hedgehog had miscalculated or, perhaps, fallen into the water while still only partially awake and been overcome by the cold water. Like many garden owners she had not known that hedgehogs were visiting her garden - their nocturnal habits make them fairly unobtrusive, but it seems that though numbers are decreasing in the countryside, hedgehogs are coming to rely more and more on suburban gardens. A national survey is currently being carried out into numbers and distribution. If you saw a live hedgehog during 2006, the survey team would like to hear from you. You can visit the project website and enter your observations - at www. Hogwatch.org.uk Not all is gloom and doom, however. The other morning dawned bright after days of dankness and fog. The sunshine stimulated our resident grey squirrels to a wild courtship chase. Three of them were involved - racing up and down and round and round the ancient oak at the edge of our garden, sometimes among the highest twigs, then leaping across to another branch, scurrying along and then spiralling round the trunk. Every so often one animal would pause - spread-eagled on the trunk or, occasionally, defying gravity by hanging from the underside of a branch - then off again, helter-skelter. Clearly these animals are already bent on starting the next generation. The breeding season for foxes is getting underway too. Listen for their sharp staccato barking or the female's eerie shriek during the long January nights. [Back] |