Topic: A neat sphere of straw

[Kea]

i was up at the allotment this morning and I started to clear up the straw i'd used around the squash. So I started with an obvious pile of straw and as i lifted it i wondered why it had formed itself into a sort of half spherical shape....

then has i lifted it I felt something move against my fingers!...........

and there was something alive in the pile..........


it was a hedgehog and i had partly woken him up.

i quickly put everything back and it must of worked as he didn't come out.

[tonybloke]

chuck another layer on him / her they'll appreciate the extra insulation!

[flossy]

   Found a nest under some garden debris,  a hedgehog must have used it at some time.

   there was a smooth  ' bowl ' of soft dried grass and the soil was hollowed  --  a good

   hedgie shape, but the whole thing was sodden after the snow.

   Wonder where they went and if they are OK. ?      :-\

   floss xxx

[redimp]

If there is no hedgehog in attendance, it could be a Field Vole - they make neat roundish nests out of those materials too.

[Kea]

chuck another layer on him / her they'll appreciate the extra insulation!

Yes I did put more straw on and I put a brick where I'd removed the clump of grass on the windward side so he's got a low wall behind.

I get lots of field voles...they nest under my carpet and the make nests from bits of carpet they've pulled off.

i'm keen for the hedgehog to stay around though as i have huge slugs i'd like him/her to eat.
The hedgehog was definitely there Redclanger.......he started to wake up as I had partly lifted him.