…enchanted

Last year, while out walking the dogs my husband and I spotted a hedgehog. He/she was ambling around one of the cul de sacs and had attracted something of a crowd. People were leaning out of upstairs windows and craning their necks from their doorsteps to catch sight of the visitor.
I remember wondering what was more heart-warming; to see one of our most-loved British mammals in the flesh or peoples’ delighted reaction.
I must have mentioned it to my lovely friend Jo because a few days later she gave me a bag of hedgehog food. The one we’d seen had been a quarter of a mile away, but I thought it was worth a try and so popped a dish of food and a shallow bowl of water under a bush on our front driveway. Being completely enclosed at the time and with two greedy dogs, the back garden just wasn’t an option.
The food disappeared overnight. I was delighted – until my husband said it was most likely a rat. I persevered anyway. Then one-night last autumn, I took the dogs out for their evening stroll only to find two fat hedgehogs happily tucking into their supper on our driveway.
They were regular visitors right up until hibernation time and my evenings became consumed with hedgehog watching from the window. Since then my lovely neighbours have built a ‘hog highway’ between our gardens so that the hedgehogs can roam safely. They’ve both got wildlife cameras and we have a WhatsApp group to share sightings, images and co-ordinate food orders.
I’m desperate for a wildlife camera but simply can’t justify the expense at the moment. Then last night I had an idea. As it was a warm dry evening, I ran an extension cord out of the window and put our indoor dog camera on the driveway. Right on schedule one of our little visitors arrived, followed five minutes later by a fox!
There is something utterly enchanting about seeing wildlife on your doorstep. I’m still smiling now at the memory. In this world gone mad, it’s good to know that nature can still inspire and enchant us.