We have a little spiky friend living in our garden! I spotted him (or probably her) at about 6:00 this morning, rushing between the plants and the corner where our lawn furniture is stacked. It seems the little guy is building a nest using leaves from our plants. We also contributed some bunny hay to the effort, and the hedgehog seemed to be in seventh heaven. I suspect (and hope!) our little friend may be building a nest in this sheltered corner of our garden to have babies.
Upon further reading about hedgehogs, it seems that this little guy will be quite a useful friend in our garden. Apparently, hedgehogs love to chow down on insects, meaning that they can be an effective form of pest control. According to Wikipedia, the British even try to lure hedgehogs into their gardens for this purpose. And we didn't even have to try! We must have a superiorly hedgehog-friendly garden.
The only problem that comes with the little guy are the cats. The cats have returned to watch the hedgehog. They had finally learned, after many a bucket of water over the head, that they are not welcome at our house and not welcome to use our sandbox as a toilet. But now they are mesmerized by the new guy toddling back and forth between nest and plants. Perhaps Wilhelm will chase them away, yesterday he kicked a cat on the street (without any encouragement) for no apparent reason.
In other animal news, we spotted a precious squirrel in the Großer Garten behind the zoo last week. I adore the sleek red European squirrels.
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