Happily Ever After
Life in The Rural Retreat with a beautiful wife, three cats, garden wildlife, a camera, a computer – and increasing amounts about running
Earlier posts can be found on Adventures of a Lone Bass Player, where this blog began life. Recent entries can be found here.
The Ingratitude of Hedgehogs
by admin - 22:38 on 30 August 2011
The revelation that hedgehogs charge around The Rural Retreat's garden for much of the night left Matchgirl so concerned for their welfare that she recently bought a small sack of food formulated especially for our spiny friends – a potpourri of meaty biscuits, nuts and dried fruit.
She shouldn't have bothered.
We'd wondered if they'd have a chance to taste the gourmet treat, or whether cats and pine martens would hoover it up first. In the event, no-one was interested, including hedgehogs. Like martens, Nutella holds the greatest fascination, although egg and peanut butter won't be spurned. Almost every night the Bushnell snaps a hopeful hoggy sniffing the aromas that drift from the top of the martens' log, just out of reach.
Little goes to waste, however. The birds made short work of fruit and nuts, once they were up and about. Only the biscuits remain.
Pine marten action picked up last night after a quiet couple of days. The first visitor (Matchgirl is adamant it's male) dropped by at 9.30pm but the real business took place around 3.30am when two (blurry) martens were snapped at the log. Minutes later, one could be seen near the log while two eyes glowed in the darkness further back in the garden, up The Nutella Tree. Or possibly three eyes – there may have been a third marten lurking in the tree, in profile.
It seems that the kits still go around in a gang.
Also captured out on the prowl, not long after midnight, was Bess. The rodents' nemesis continues to be heavily engaged in vole-crunching activities despite her dental deficiencies.
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