We have a family in the garden and we always look for them early morning or in the dusk of evening. I love them but they are full of fleas.
I was staying with a friend and we had been out, she has always wanted a hedgehog in her garden, on the way home it was just getting dark she pulled up the car at the side of the road and dashed from it, from the boot she took a large towel and going to the verge of the road gently covered and wrapped up an object. I asked her what the problem was and she said she pick up a large hedgehog for the garden, she was so delighted. we took it in to the garden a set it free, rolling it out of the towel we fell around laughing for the hedgehog turned out to be an old broom head which had been discarded, we decided that we had done a good job getting rid of a piece of rubbish. Off to Norfolk for the day tomorrow so I will not see the puzzle until if at all
Enjoy Norfolk. A similar thing happened when we moved to the Catskills many years ago. (No longer there. Boohoo)
At two in the morning my husband woke me up all excited to point out a whole herd of deer on the hill. In the morning they turned out to be bushes.
pixipixil
Aug 5, 2013
Barbaranne, what does a hedgehog do that you would want one in your garden. I certainly would not want to step on him by accident. I bet those spines would go right through the soles of most shoes not to mention I'd hate to hurt the little guy.
jiggler
Aug 6, 2013
I've always been fond of hedgehogs - they certainly are cute, and do eat garden pests like slugs and snails. Unfortunately, they also eat the eggs and chicks of ground-nesting birds, also lizards, skinks, the endangered New Zealand giant snail, and native wetas - so they're not too popular in NZ! But if you want to encourage them in your garden - don't feed them bread-and-milk. Gives them diarrhoea, makes them sick. Canned cat food is OK though. :-)
Barbaranne
Aug 6, 2013
Jigger has said it all pixipixil, we do not have ground nesting birds in the garden so that not a problem, and as for standing on one they are big enough to be seen(except in the dark) so that unlikely to happen.
manatee
Aug 6, 2013
Delightful story! Thank you for the smiles! :)
pixipixil
Aug 10, 2013
Say Jiggler--what's a weta?
jiggler
Aug 17, 2013
Sorry, Pixi, lost track of this post! A weta is an insect found only in NZ, has big back legs somewhat like a katydid, doesn't fly. Several different species, the largest (the Giant Weta) is heavier than a sparrow: the Cave Weta has extremely long antennae. Non-venomous, though the bigger ones can nip with their mandibles, but they are gentle unless threatened, when they raise their back legs in the air and strike forwards - their back legs have spines on them. Some people are scared of them - I don't mind them, I'd rather have them than (shudder) spiders any day! - and Kiwis overall are quite fond of them because they are sort of a Kiwi icon :-)
pixipixil
Aug 19, 2013
Interesting. I think I'll try and find a photo of one. They sound like a cross between a cricket and a praying mantis. Sorry for my delay in answering. I just got back from singing at my 95 year old aunt's funeral. We were on vacation when she died and had just enough time to get home and go right out again. I missed puzzlin' but had no chance. It was a real short vacation.
pixipixil
Aug 21, 2013
Hi Jiggler. I finally got around to looking up some photos of wetas. They do look like crickets but with a giant ant head. Do they "sing or chirp" like crickets?
Do people consider them good luck?
sallywon12
Dec 4, 2016
Oh, good grief! The weta is a nightmare to me. It is bigger than the hand it's sitting on! That's not an insect--it's a monster come to scare us old ladies to death.
I was staying with a friend and we had been out, she has always wanted a hedgehog in her garden, on the way home it was just getting dark she pulled up the car at the side of the road and dashed from it, from the boot she took a large towel and going to the verge of the road gently covered and wrapped up an object. I asked her what the problem was and she said she pick up a large hedgehog for the garden, she was so delighted. we took it in to the garden a set it free, rolling it out of the towel we fell around laughing for the hedgehog turned out to be an old broom head which had been discarded, we decided that we had done a good job getting rid of a piece of rubbish. Off to Norfolk for the day tomorrow so I will not see the puzzle until if at all
At two in the morning my husband woke me up all excited to point out a whole herd of deer on the hill. In the morning they turned out to be bushes.
Do people consider them good luck?