Young country diary: Helping a hedgehog make a home | Aditi
Gardens aren’t just home to plants. In the back of our garden there was a cordyline, a large green and yellow grass plant. Our cordyline was huge, and had long, vibrant blades with orange, spiky flowers. One evening, my brother and I noticed some murky brown spikes under the plant. We went closer to investigate … it was a little hedgehog! We had our very own pet!
Aditi’s depiction of the spaniel-hedgehog encounter. Photograph: Family handout
We named him Hoggy, and looked out for him every day. The hedgehog used to explore all around the garden, sometimes disappearing for a few days, but he always came back. He only come out at night, as hedgehogs are nocturnal. We would often find his footprints around the plants.
Although Hoggy lived mostly under the cordyline, we made more spaces for him to explore and enjoy, as we wanted him to feel at home. We let leaves gather near the shed. My brother and I put twigs and pieces of wood in little piles so that Hoggy could eat the insects hiding under them. We loved having him in our garden.
One night we all woke up to loud barking coming from our garden. We ran down to see what the commotion was. There we saw our puppy looking confused, staring at a rolled-up ball of spikes in the grass. So we took our pup inside and let Hoggy scurry away to a safe space.
Aditi, 11
Read today’s other YCD piece, by Robyn, 10: ‘Crunchy gooseberries and a peaceful pond – I love our school garden!’