On behalf of The Hecks

A headline from Tuesday's TIMES and TIMES ON LINE

Hedgehogs on endangered list as manicured gardens take their toll

Well, not in my garden - not if last night's snuffling and grunting and snorting - and chomping and slurping when The Hecks found the cat crunchies - is anything to go by.

What's worrying me is what the merry hedgehog enclave and breeding programme outside my bedroom window says about my gardening and maintenance skills - "manicured" it is not!

But - hey - now I have the perfect excuse - I keep it - er - slightly untidy - for the Hecks! They love it that way.

But seeing as these cute, prickly creatures are now officially on the endangered species list - can I just say that if you're in the UK and if, like me, you have a slightly 'unmanicured' garden - then right now is when hedgehogs need extra nourishment to build up fat reserves ready for hibernations - and so plenty of crunchies are an extra boost to all the slugs and snails they eat.

And once they've built up those reseves of fat then one of these ->
with some nice straw or leaves left lying around outside the tunnel will give them a warm, safe, snug place for them to sleep the winter away.

The Hecks will thank you for it - and it might even help hedgehogs to stop being endangered.

Further Heck Info can be found at The Hedgehog Preservation Society