wildlife

when we first lived in this house, there was a huge pile of rubbish in one corner of the garden which a family of foxes had made their home. eventually we cleared it and the foxes had to move elsewhere - next door i think it was because i still see them about - they come through our garden when it is quiet - early morning or sometimes i see them just at dusk - and sometimes i see them crossing the road if i look out the window late at night

and we have a fair number of squirrel visitors too - they run along our back fence and leap across to next door's tree - i find it endlessly amusing to watch them chase each other and to skitter up and down the trunks of trees. for the first few years we lived here there was a totally mental squirrel who used to chase his own tail. we all loved him - he was crazy!!

we had a little hedgehog too at one time - we would put cat food just outside the back door and would hear him rattling the bowl on the path when he was feeding

today i was in the library at lunch-time and read an article in a newspaper which suggested that scientists' research appears to confirm that animals can have what we would take to be 'human' emotions like 'love'. i recall that some years ago boogs and i watched a tv prog about altruism in animals so i don't find this research so surprising.

and i remember one summer evening some years ago now when i was in the kitchen and heard a strange sound outside - rather like a mewing or squeaking sound. i went out and found 2 hedgehogs - one was quite plainly unwell and the other was quite obviously distressed. the ill one was making his way slowly across the lawn and the other was creeping along beside him making these snuffly noises. they appeared to be about the same size. i have often wondered what became of them - i have not seen a hedgehog in our garden since.