Hedgepig and Hawthorn

Hedgepig – Hedgehog sculpture carved in Ancaster Weatherbed Limestone

At the moment I’m feeding a Hedgehog that is visiting the garden, it appears just as the light is fading each evening.  It moves very fast at times, surprising me with how quickly it runs.  These bursts are interspersed with  moments when it is still, all apart from its nose end, sniffing and twitching.  In general its movements seem erratic, but once that sensitive nose has caught a food scent, it becomes very focused and determined.

Hedgehogs share a distant ancestry with shrews – I can see some similarities – in common they have their remarkable tensile noses.  It is one of the things, the many wonderful things, that make me so fond of Hedgehogs.

And it is how Hedgehogs got their name, firstly because they frequent hedgerows (the hedge bit) and have a hog, or pig-like snout (the hog bit) – or in the case of my sculpture – the pig bit.

Hedgepig sculpture shown peeping out of the Hawthorn hedge.