NIGHTFALL—and there’s a strange snorting and snuffling in the dark- ened garden. You might wonder what on earth it could be and go exploring with a torch. Your beam catches a rotund little animal, like a jumbo jacket potato on stiff, scurrying legs. It trots along the edge of the herbaceous border at surprising speed, led by that noisy, into-everything nose. A few decades ago, a hedgehog in the garden was nothing out of the ordinary, but, these days, it’s a wonder—something to celebrate.
Our nation’s love for the hedgehog is deeprooted and evidenced in art and literature of all kinds, spanning the centuries. From Mrs Tiggy-Winkle, who disguised herself as a washerwoman in Beatrix Potter’s eponymous tale, to Sonic, the high-speed and heroic blue hedgehog of video-game fame, our repre- sentations of hedgehogs reflect a tremendous cultural affection. This was borne out in 2016, when the hedgehog won a public ‘Britain’s favourite mammal’ vote held by the Royal Society of Biology, garnering 35.9% of the 5,000 votes and crushing its closest competition (the fox, with a mere 15.4%).
Another measure of this fondness is its variety of regional names, such as ‘furze-pig’ and ‘urchin’ (less charmingly, the Irish grain- neog translates as ‘horrible one’). Hedgehogs live in woodland and more open areas with bushes and hedges and in gardens of all sizes, throughout lowland parts of mainland Britain and more sparsely in Ireland.
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Tales as old as time
By appointing writers-in-residence to landscape locations, the National Trust is hoping to spark in us a new engagement with our ancient surroundings, finds Richard Smyth
Do the active farmer test
Farming is a profession, not a lifestyle choice’ and, therefore, the Budget is unfair
Night Thoughts by Howard Hodgkin
Charlotte Mullins comments on Moght Thoughts
SOS: save our wild salmon
Jane Wheatley examines the dire situation facing the king of fish
Into the deep
Beneath the crystal-clear, alien world of water lie the great piscean survivors of the Ice Age. The Lake District is a fish-spotter's paradise, reports John Lewis-Stempel
It's alive!
Living, burping and bubbling fermented masses of flour, yeast and water that spawn countless loaves—Emma Hughes charts the rise and rise) of sourdough starters
There's orange gold in them thar fields
A kitchen staple that is easily taken for granted, the carrot is actually an incredibly tricky customer to cultivate that could reduce a grown man to tears, says Sarah Todd
True blues
I HAVE been planting English bluebells. They grow in their millions in the beechwoods that surround us—but not in our own garden. They are, however, a protected species. The law is clear and uncompromising: ‘It is illegal to dig up bluebells or their bulbs from the wild, or to trade or sell wild bluebell bulbs and seeds.’ I have, therefore, had to buy them from a respectable bulb-merchant.
Oh so hip
Stay the hand that itches to deadhead spent roses and you can enjoy their glittering fruits instead, writes John Hoyland
A best kept secret
Oft-forgotten Rutland, England's smallest county, is a 'Notswold' haven deserving of more attention, finds Nicola Venning