I found him on Tuesday late morning on the wood chippings in our back garden fast asleep out in the open. He clearly wasn't alright or he wouldn't have been there, so we put him safe in a cardboard box, and on top of a hot water bottle covered in a towel to keep him warm. We fed him on egg & oats and turkey & oats, which he devoured, often standing in his food to eat it which the children thought was funny.
Peter thought he was amazing! He got SO excited and kept pointing at him and peering into the door of the box when he'd gone inside.
He was doing so well after a day, and was very nimble and steady on his feet by then as he explored our kitchen and dining room, and my feet (he had a go at nibbling my socks which I'm afraid caused me to jump away!) Anyway we felt fine about letting him out in the garden that night to see if he could find his way home. He was unsure for a moment at being put on the grass but then sniffed around a bit and went off happily at quite a pace. We felt like he would be brought back for us to help him if he wasn't going to be okay.
The next day, late morning sometime, I was sat writing something at the dining table and heard a noise that sounded just like a hedgehog snuffling around. The children were in the back garden and Michael had just come into the kitchen and I asked him what the noise was - I said it sounded just like dripping water or a hedgehog eating something. Couldn't find anything. Then a few minutes later I was in the kitchen getting Rebekah a drink of water and as I moved my foot to stand back where her cup was, my foot nudged something - I looked down only to see it was Harry exploring the kitchen again! I suppose he had been with me in the dining room before that. :o)
We fed him outside this time, and he went straight behind some plant pots and a bits waiting to go to different people in between nibbles. He wasn't quite as happy as he had been with his little home. We think he must have spent the night there though, or at least the morning, and then toddled straight in while the door was open and everyone else was out in the back garden!
We finally got a nearby(ish) rescue centre on the phone - we could only get hold of some further away when we first found him - and so we fed Harry again and then Michael and the girls took Harry over to Nuneaton to be looked after. They were excited to see a whole host of animals there - a family of owls, a swan, a cygnet, a goose, a badger, three foxes, lots of rabbits and guinea pigs, loads of parakeets and other birds, some sort of bird of prey, ferrets, a couple of chinchilla. Michael and Rebekah really loved the badger. Harry was the only hedgehog, but he will be looked after well there. Apparently he was about a month old and quite underweight. So once he is okay the man whose centre it is (just his house really) will release him over there.
It was lovely to have him around and give him some of what he needed while we could. Bye bye Harry!
