Evening All

Could be new to some but a couple of years ago I came across a pile of
leaves set about moving them and after been bitten by fleas realised it was
Horace Hedgehogs home. Had to go to medical centre but I can't recall how I
was treated.

Today I came across another pile, I was a little more circumspect and
detected Horace or his cousin inside.
I could manage without these piles of leaves which arrive quite suddenly and
I had put down to wind.If I was to construct a des res furnished with straw
is he likely to move house or should I just save my energy,?

Alan.

On Sun, 5 Sep 2010 19:34:54 +0100, "Alan Hutson"
wrote:

Evening All

Could be new to some but a couple of years ago I came across a pile of
leaves set about moving them and after been bitten by fleas realised it was
Horace Hedgehogs home. Had to go to medical centre but I can't recall how I
was treated.

Today I came across another pile, I was a little more circumspect and
detected Horace or his cousin inside.
I could manage without these piles of leaves which arrive quite suddenly and
I had put down to wind.If I was to construct a des res furnished with straw
is he likely to move house or should I just save my energy,?

Alan.

For Horace's sake, be careful when moving piles of leaves with a
garden fork. Also beware other creatures. I once shoved a fork into
a pile of leaves etc, heard a squeal, and found a speared toad. I
gave a much louder squeal, shook the toad off, and covered him up. I
never discovered whether he recovered.
Also be careful not to start bonfires on previously heaped-up
materials, as Horace might be taking a nap!

Pam in Bristol

Pam Moore wrote:
On Sun, 5 Sep 2010 19:34:54 +0100, "Alan Hutson"
wrote:

Evening All

Could be new to some but a couple of years ago I came across a pile
of leaves set about moving them and after been bitten by fleas
realised it was Horace Hedgehogs home. Had to go to medical centre
but I can't recall how I was treated.

Today I came across another pile, I was a little more circumspect and
detected Horace or his cousin inside.
I could manage without these piles of leaves which arrive quite
suddenly and I had put down to wind.If I was to construct a des res
furnished with straw is he likely to move house or should I just
save my energy,?

Alan.

For Horace's sake, be careful when moving piles of leaves with a
garden fork. Also beware other creatures. I once shoved a fork into
a pile of leaves etc, heard a squeal, and found a speared toad. I
gave a much louder squeal, shook the toad off, and covered him up. I
never discovered whether he recovered.
Also be careful not to start bonfires on previously heaped-up
materials, as Horace might be taking a nap!

Alan, are you allergic to fleabites? I ask because I wouldn't generally
seek medical attention for them. I got them in my bed in Sa'udi, many
years ago, and solved the problem by (very wrongly, but I was both
ignorant and desperate) dusting my sleeping arrangements liberally with
flea powder. It will be one of numerous candidates for blame if I keel
over from some awful fatal disease.

Meanwhile, secondhand anecdotage, of what seems like a very high degree
of apocryphality and no little ghoulishness:
Somebody started a bonfire on the edge of a cricket field. To his
horror, a rabbit dashed out with its fur on fire. Bunny ran for refuge
under the pavilion...in which were stored lawn mowers...whose fuel, of
course, caught fire...and burnt down the pavilion.

--
Mike.

"Sacha" wrote in message
...
On 2010-09-05 19:34:54 +0100, "Alan Hutson" said:

Evening All

Could be new to some but a couple of years ago I came across a pile of
leaves set about moving them and after been bitten by fleas realised it
was
Horace Hedgehogs home. Had to go to medical centre but I can't recall
how I
was treated.

Today I came across another pile, I was a little more circumspect and
detected Horace or his cousin inside.
I could manage without these piles of leaves which arrive quite suddenly
and
I had put down to wind.If I was to construct a des res furnished with
straw
is he likely to move house or should I just save my energy,?

Alan.

You could leave a supply of straw and hope they use and at the site given
below you can buy (or see how to construct) a home for them. There's no
guarantee they'll use it, though! Hedgehogs are becoming increasingly
scarce so you're extremely lucky to have them. They're a great boon to
gardeners because they eat garden pests you're well rid of. It sounds as
if yours are still breeding so don't disturb them. However, over-tidy
gardens aren't helpful to wildlife at all. Hedgehogs can breed from
April to September, though most breeding takes place in May and June. I
wish we had more of them here but because there are a lot of badgers
around we don't have many hogs, unfortunately.
http://www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk/
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon


Thanks Sacha, a useful link.

http://www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk and some links from there I found
worthwhile following

Its informative and well worth a visit.
I have a couple of old caravan waste water containers, rigid black PVC which
when I follow recommendations re entry, ventilation do a bit of external
insulation etc horace will hopefully find it acceptable. He's been around
for a quite a while as I frequently find droppings on the grass, I used to
call it a lawn :-)

Alan

On Sun, 5 Sep 2010 19:34:54 +0100, "Alan Hutson"
wrote:

Evening All

Could be new to some but a couple of years ago I came across a pile of
leaves set about moving them and after been bitten by fleas realised it was
Horace Hedgehogs home. Had to go to medical centre but I can't recall how I
was treated.

With funny looks I imagine. Having been to the walk in centre with rat
and cat bites. (Not at the same time... but witin a month of each
other..)




Today I came across another pile, I was a little more circumspect and
detected Horace or his cousin inside.
I could manage without these piles of leaves which arrive quite suddenly and
I had put down to wind.If I was to construct a des res furnished with straw
is he likely to move house or should I just save my energy,?

Alan.

--
http://www.bra-and-pants.com
http://www.holidayunder100.co.uk

On 07/09/2010 11:38, Sacha wrote:
On 2010-09-07 09:49:41 +0100, "Alan Hutson" said:


"Sacha" wrote in message
...
On 2010-09-05 19:34:54 +0100, "Alan Hutson"
said:

Evening All

Could be new to some but a couple of years ago I came across a pile of
leaves set about moving them and after been bitten by fleas realised it
was
Horace Hedgehogs home. Had to go to medical centre but I can't recall
how I
was treated.

Today I came across another pile, I was a little more circumspect and
detected Horace or his cousin inside.
I could manage without these piles of leaves which arrive quite
suddenly
and
I had put down to wind.If I was to construct a des res furnished with
straw
is he likely to move house or should I just save my energy,?

Alan.

You could leave a supply of straw and hope they use and at the site
given
below you can buy (or see how to construct) a home for them. There's no
guarantee they'll use it, though! Hedgehogs are becoming increasingly
scarce so you're extremely lucky to have them. They're a great boon to
gardeners because they eat garden pests you're well rid of. It sounds as
if yours are still breeding so don't disturb them. However, over-tidy
gardens aren't helpful to wildlife at all. Hedgehogs can breed from
April to September, though most breeding takes place in May and June. I
wish we had more of them here but because there are a lot of badgers
around we don't have many hogs, unfortunately.
http://www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk/
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon


Thanks Sacha, a useful link.

http://www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk and some links from there I found
worthwhile following

Its informative and well worth a visit.
I have a couple of old caravan waste water containers, rigid black PVC
which
when I follow recommendations re entry, ventilation do a bit of external
insulation etc horace will hopefully find it acceptable. He's been around
for a quite a while as I frequently find droppings on the grass, I
used to
call it a lawn :-)

Alan

What a good idea. If Horace & Family don't use them, something else
might. We had grass snakes up in our huge compost/bonfire heap last year
and I was remarking that nobody seems to have seen them this year. One
of the staff piped up that she'd been working near the other compost
heaps and a huge one slithered right past her and disapppeared into the
hedge. You never know what's out there! We set up a CCTV camera which
has recently decidded to stop working just before we have seen several
badger scrapes on the lawns. We did get some wonderful aerial ballet
from the bats though!

All my gardening is done on a city centre balcony, but this post is
making my crave moving out of the city to somewhere with fresh air even
more :-)

"Craven" wrote in message
o.uk...
On 07/09/2010 11:38, Sacha wrote:
On 2010-09-07 09:49:41 +0100, "Alan Hutson" said:


"Sacha" wrote in message
...
On 2010-09-05 19:34:54 +0100, "Alan Hutson"
said:

Evening All

Could be new to some but a couple of years ago I came across a pile of
leaves set about moving them and after been bitten by fleas realised
it
was
Horace Hedgehogs home. Had to go to medical centre but I can't recall
how I
was treated.

Today I came across another pile, I was a little more circumspect and
detected Horace or his cousin inside.
I could manage without these piles of leaves which arrive quite
suddenly
and
I had put down to wind.If I was to construct a des res furnished with
straw
is he likely to move house or should I just save my energy,?

Alan.
SNIP
We had grass snakes up in our huge compost/bonfire heap last year
and I was remarking that nobody seems to have seen them this year. One
of the staff piped up that she'd been working near the other compost
heaps and a huge one slithered right past her and disapppeared into the
hedge. You never know what's out there! We set up a CCTV camera which
has recently decidded to stop working just before we have seen several
badger scrapes on the lawns. We did get some wonderful aerial ballet
from the bats though!

Sacha

All my gardening is done on a city centre balcony, but this post is making
my crave moving out of the city to somewhere with fresh air even more :-)


So do I. We live about 200 yards inside a 30 yr old housing estate, 400
yards from chemical factories and half a mile from a large power station
which dumps dust from its chimney from time to time on my car especially
when I've just washed it. We're also about 400 yards from a sewage
incinerator. Not a lot of chance of a partner arriving

Alan

On Thu, 9 Sep 2010 20:26:30 +0100, "Alan Hutson"
gently dipped his quill in the best Quink that
money could buy:


"Craven" wrote in message
news:gOmdnUnwVM7znBXRnZ2dnUVZ8vCdnZ2d@brightview. co.uk...
On 07/09/2010 11:38, Sacha wrote:
On 2010-09-07 09:49:41 +0100, "Alan Hutson" said:


"Sacha" wrote in message
...
On 2010-09-05 19:34:54 +0100, "Alan Hutson"
said:

Evening All

Could be new to some but a couple of years ago I came across a pile of
leaves set about moving them and after been bitten by fleas realised
it
was
Horace Hedgehogs home. Had to go to medical centre but I can't recall
how I
was treated.

Today I came across another pile, I was a little more circumspect and
detected Horace or his cousin inside.
I could manage without these piles of leaves which arrive quite
suddenly
and
I had put down to wind.If I was to construct a des res furnished with
straw
is he likely to move house or should I just save my energy,?

Alan.
SNIP
We had grass snakes up in our huge compost/bonfire heap last year
and I was remarking that nobody seems to have seen them this year. One
of the staff piped up that she'd been working near the other compost
heaps and a huge one slithered right past her and disapppeared into the
hedge. You never know what's out there! We set up a CCTV camera which
has recently decidded to stop working just before we have seen several
badger scrapes on the lawns. We did get some wonderful aerial ballet
from the bats though!

Sacha

All my gardening is done on a city centre balcony, but this post is making
my crave moving out of the city to somewhere with fresh air even more :-)


So do I. We live about 200 yards inside a 30 yr old housing estate, 400
yards from chemical factories and half a mile from a large power station
which dumps dust from its chimney from time to time on my car especially
when I've just washed it. We're also about 400 yards from a sewage
incinerator. Not a lot of chance of a partner arriving

Alan


Luxury ! ........ we used to dreeeem of living anywhere in an estate
... and think we were lucky.

Mike P the 1st