In one case, the hedgehog was in trouble and had been rescued. In the other, the critter had departed this mortal coil.
The death provoked sadness and the rescue warm fuzzies.
Like possums or stoats, the only good hedgehog is a dead one.
That’s hard to write because we’ve thought of them as cute.
Beatrix Potter’s Mrs Tiggy-Winkle, the washerwoman, is a hedgehog. Along with flamingoes, they play croquet in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
They have a deep and positive history in European culture, and almost everyone has heard of Sonic the Hedgehog, even if unaware that this is a video game series and media franchise.
Trust the McGillicuddy Serious Party to try to win a Parliamentary seat for a hedgehog. The animals also star in Burton Silver’s Bogor cartoon, and from there, on a postage stamp.
Some older readers might remember putting out milk on saucers to feed hedgehogs. Apparently, though, they are lactose intolerant.
Civis Went to the Predator Free NZ site and found they were more destructive than previously thought to invertebrates, lizards and ground-dwelling birds.
New Zealand has one of the world’s largest hedgehog populations. They are excellent swimmers and climbers.
On a single night, they can swim more than 800m in search of food and they can climb hedges and high walls.
One hedgehog, in the upper Waitaki basin, was found with 283 wētā legs in its stomach, showing it had eaten 47 wētā in one night.
They eat a varied diet that can include frogs, mice, lizards, skinks, eggs and chicks.
For ground-nesting birds like banded dotterel, hedgehogs are a major threat. They eat their eggs and kill the chicks.
In the Mackenzie Basin, hedgehogs are responsible for one in five predator attacks on nests.
Hedgehogs were introduced in the 1870s, helping to make settlers feel more at home. Now there are more than twice as many hedgehogs as in Britain.
Civis once remembers helping check and clear a trap line when the group stumbled across a live hedgehog on the track.
It had to be dealt to. Gutless Civis was too squeamish to do the deed.
In recent years, conservation scientists have realised the extent of the damage caused.
Now, it is time for the wider public to catch up.
*****
One of Civis’ frustrations is with drivers who slow right down for the corners and speed up on the straights.
Such drivers are almost impossible to pass, especially if you’re not a speedster.
One suspects many such drivers are from overseas and perhaps not used to windy open roads.
Civis struck one this summer and was stuck for a manageable 20 minutes or so. At least this driver took the corners at a reasonable speed.
One Civis encountered on the West Coast a few years back dawdled so much on the corners that Civis gave up and stopped for a refreshment break.
The driver this week ignored signs about pulling over to let traffic through.
Maybe they were from a country where there’s so much traffic that moving over to the left to allow cars to pass would make little difference.
