The start of a new venture

 Hi,

Not too sure how you got here but this is my secondary blog which I have started in order to concentrate on the fantastic situation revolving around the hedgehogs which visit my garden feeding station. I make no claim to be any type of expert on the behaviour, health and well being of these superb creatures; simply blown away that, since lockdown, I've been able to attract them into the garden by regularly providing food and water. I'll use this first post as a way to introduce myself and explain why I felt the need to start a new blog. 

This little chap is the very first hedgehog that I photographed after setting up
our garden feeding station - April 2020

So here goes! My name is Dylan Wrathall. I, and Bev who's now Mrs W, moved to our current address in November 2000. Although within the Ramsgate boundaries, West Dumpton is a little more rural and far less "kiss me quick" seaside in its' appeal. Our bungalow has the fields of Newlands Farm as a boundary and the Pyson's Rd Industrial Estate as a backdrop beyond them. Wildlife has been my obsession since childhood, growing up in the New Town of Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, during the 1960's. My life has taken me down a long and twisting journey, as the years passed and events happened, and I now find myself fast approaching retirement and loving life! The hedgehogs have really become a part of my life purely as a bi-product of the Covid-19 pandemic. During "lockdown" it was obvious that I'd go stir crazy if I couldn't find something to occupy my time, so the advent of the garden bird watch (BWKm0) initiative was a huge relief and, as a result, led on to the establishment of a garden hedgehog project. With so many fellow bloggers in the same predicament, garden wildlife became central to all our blogging and proved to be a hugely productive period for all those involved. 

Way back in 2001, hedgehogs were a pain in the arse being so numerous that road casualties were an everyday sight. My issues revolved around the fact that these spiny denizens of the dark were constantly patrolling the garden moth trap and eating the moths which were attracted by the light yet failed to enter the funnel, instead perching on the outside and thus fair game for ravenous hedgehogs? It was only after the catastrophic population crash that I actually realised how much I enjoyed having these animals around. Too late, too late, will be the cry!

I have no data to support any of my assumptions, yet I guess it was over a decade ago when the Thanet hedgehog population took an absolute dive. I wasn't particularly bothered because I simply didn't have any interest in the matter. I am hugely indebted to Julie & Gary Pearse for the resurrection of my enthusiasm for these wonderful creatures. Gary (with whom I work) showed me some images of hedgehogs that Julie was feeding in their garden, which would have been around 2016? Although I was mightily impressed it took the pandemic to spur me into action. If they could do it, so could I.

So here we are in September 2020 and Dylan has started a new blog dedicated to the hedgehogs which visit his Thanet garden. I'm not too sure how regularly I'll be making posts but, one thing is a given, I'm happy to share the enjoyment of garden hedgehogs with whoever visits my new blog. I'll write more about the feeding station and what camera kit I use in future posts. In the mean time, thanks for visiting and feel free to leave a comment (they won't appear until I've had chance to approve them) STAY SAFE .