DID YOU KNOW THAT HEDGEHOGS WHISTLED? 5
Last year on September 7th I found a young hedgehog
lying on its side in the sun trapped in a "cold frame"
in my garden. Presumably it had climbed in the night
before and had not been able to climb up the three-
brick-high wall to freedom again.
When I picked it up and placed it
on the grass to my surprise he
gaue out a shrill whistle. I
have handled many adult hedge-
hogs before but haue neuer
heard one whistling. I noticed
also on further examining the
tennis-ball sized animal that
there was a clutch of elongated
white eggs, presumably of some fly, on its face. There
did not seem to be a cut on the hedgehog's face which
might haue attracted such potential parasite but I decided
to take a photograph of the animal and replaced him in the
cold-frame. Next morning he had been joined by another
hedgehog of the same size which instead of hauing fly eggs
on him had instead a large tick on his face which I
remoued. By now the eggs on the first hedgehog had gone
flat, presumably hauing dried up after being layed on an
unsuitable "food". I fed the babies on milk and bread.
Next morning I was awakened at 5.30 by an unusual
shrill peeping whistle. Four or five high pitched notes
repeated rapidly then a break of a few seconds followed by
another series of peeps. Try hitting the last black note
on a piano five times as quickly as you can and this will
give you