Have you ever heard a hedgehog?

The first time that I heard a hedgehog, I was in the bathroom. The window was open and I heard a noise that sounded like a cross between sawing a plank of wood and someone impersonating an old steam train. Until that point, I had always maintained how stupid horror movies were - where heroes and heroins would venture into dark, cold, damp, dungeons knowing full well that they could be attacked or even slain at any moment. Admittedly, I was not venturing into any such place, but I did go outside into the pitch blackness to try and discover where the noise was coming from. The relief, when I almost tripped over what must have been a grandfather of all hedgehogs (it was on the large side), was such that I laughed. These little harmless mammals have also caught me out when they have been crunching on cat kibble in the blackness of night! Despite all of the rainfall we had during the day, they were out in force last night. It may well be that there were a multitude of earthworms slithering over the surface of the lawn. Or, perhaps the overwhelming plagues of slugs that are oozing their trails over what seems to be every inch of the pathways, not to mention the plants. Certainly, something appeared to be drawing these little prickly creatures into the back garden. post extra: despite it being St Swithin's day yesterday, the weather has been quite pleasant until 5.00 pm when the first spots of rain began to fall - by 5.50 pm came a loud clap of thunder . . .