This hedgehog’s for the birds

WHEN I read the story of the gentleman who mistook horse droppings for hedgehogs (Mail), I was reminded of an experience told to me by a friend. At that time, he and his fiancée had bought a house ready to share after their coming marriage. He was living in the house while she was completing her studies away at university. On putting the milk bottles out one night, he was delighted to find a hedgehog on his front doorstep and promptly rang his fiancée to inform her that they had a ‘pet’, and that he was going to prepare some bread and milk in a saucer and place it on the front doorstep to encourage the hedgehog to stay. This he did. Before retiring for the night, he went to check on the hedgehog to see if it had partaken of the bread and milk. He was a little disappointed to find that the hedgehog had shown no interest. So, thinking that the animal might not be well, pushed the saucer a little closer to it. He then went to bed. His first thought on rising in the morning was the hedgehog, and he excitedly opened the front door to see if the little creature was still there or had enjoyed the milk. He then rang his fiancée to inform her that instead of a hedgehog, he had been trying to feed an upside-down bird’s nest — an embarrassing fact made clear by the light of day!

Joy Wright, Yorkley, Glos. ONE evening when driving to have a meal with us, a friend of mine saw an injured Collie dog on the grass verge. As he didn’t have a mobile phone and had he stopped could have done little for the animal anyway, he drove on as fast as he dared and phoned the police from our house. Throughout the meal he was concerned about the poor dog. On his way home, he stopped to investigate — only to discover the traffic cone was still there, resting on its side.

Sylvia Rowley, Manchester.