Hedgehogs

Naturalists tell us that hedgehogs are becoming rarer in England, because fewer are being found squashed on the roads. I think that fewer are killed because their habits are changing: that natural selection has dictated that the remaining hedgehogs in England don't curl up when threatened, but keep on running.

It may not be true everywhere.
Last weekend we were in Farndale, famous for its daffodils, and in the course of a few miles driving and walking, we saw half-a-dozen flattened hedgehogs on the roads. I hadn't seen any elsewhere for months. Perhaps the hedgehogs there still roll up. Perhaps the hedgehogs are just much more common in the North York Moors.

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And last week, I visited Omex, a company in flat Lincolnshire which makes slug pellets which don't affect either hedgehogs or birds, so you can gaily protect your spinach from slugs without worrying about poisoning your garden wildlife.

Sluggo, it's called. It's not a very inventive name. The pellets are based upon pasta laced with ferric phosphate, and I stole a free sample.