Winter Hedgehog Alert !

Remember "Hedgehog Flavoured "crisps in the early 80's? Produced and promoted by Hedgehog Foods Ltd, some proceeds went to hedghog care but the company was (unbelievably) prosecuted by the po faced killjoys in the Office of Fair Trading, on a charge of false advertising under the Trade Descriptions Act.

After consulting some gypsies who have sentimental and gustatory connections with hedgehogs, and a food flavour company ,"Hedgehog Flavour" Crisps" were re- launched and enjoyed a brief Renaissance but like many hedgehogs died an early death.

Now http://www.hogwatch.org.uk alert us to the problems of survival for our native hedgehog and seek the public's help in surveying our decling populations by completing their survey on both the presence and absence of hedgehogs. Please spend a few minutes helping.

Their website also offers a suitable screen saver and lots of factsheets and gardening tips.

Hit by fast disappearing hedgerows, the motorways of the small mammalian world, especially in the agricultural prairies of East Anglia , these cute slug devouring garden visitors also fall prey to strimmers, plastic horticultural netting, pesticides (slug pellets), badgers, drowning, and of course road traffic On top of this they have been hit by a Double climatic whammy this year.

The lengthy summer and mild Autumn and early winter have resulted in second litters, and early hibernating animals waking early thinking Spring has sprung.

The public are asked to take in any small, weak, apparently dozy hedgehogs , keep them warm and feed them up with cat food (NOT Bread and Milk !) and do not to release them unless they weigh about 1 lb weight and have sufficient body fat to survive the winter.

WARNING Wild Hedgehogs harbour a wide fauna of parasitic ticks, blood sucking mites and lice and a specific flea Archaeopsylla erinacei (pic) (which is recorded biting humans) . Do not let them near domestic pets and handle carefully with gloves - even though they tend to be specific to hedgehogs. Do NOT use flea powder you may kill the animal, flood with dilute washing up liquid and rinse carefully.( A German survey by veterinarians found 20% of dog and 10 % of cat infestations by fleas was with Archaeopsylla erinacei .

Pic Mrs Tiggy-Winkle © Copyright Frederick Warne & Co, 2004 - buy the kids some Beatrix Potter Books as seasonal gifts and get ready for the fillum of Beatrix Potter's life and excite yourself at the sight of the delectable, nubile and naked Renée Zellweger swimming in Windermere. Pics here.