Not long after I'd found the nest I made another discovery. A young hedgehog had fallen into our cattlestop at the front gate. I armed myself with a pair of gardening gloves and lifted him out thinking he'd make a great portrait subject. I lined an ice-cream container with dried leaves and grass and placed him in it on his back still tightly curled into a ball. I put my camera on a tripod and waited for him to uncurl. When he opened up I got some great shots, he looked so cute blinking in the sunlight.
Then I had an uncomfortable thought... hedgehogs are actually a pest, preying on the eggs and young of gound-nesting birds just like the skylarks! So if I am to call myself a true conservationist I must dispose of him. BUT HOW? I could drop him in a bucket of water but that would be far too cruel. Besides I think hedgehogs can swim. I could take him to the vet and get him euthanised but that would be too expensive and I'd feel pretty stupid sitting in the waiting room. I could shoot him with a shotgun but that would be far too messy. (Images of jam and toothpicks spring to mind.) I had to come up with another option so I put the hedgehog on the ground and went inside to have a coffee and think about it. When I went back after my coffee lo and behold, the hedgehog was gone!
About a few days later I went back to the skylarks nest and there were two chicks, beautifully camouflaged with feathers that looked like dried grass growing out of their heads. I wondered what happened to the other two eggs...hedgehog omelettes perhaps?
1 comment:
That was a great little story you did though you should have let him be. He would probaly noticed that their were humans packed his bags and been on his way. Great pictures!
Post a Comment