Hedgehog WEX

Hello again, it's time once more to bring you the news of what our WEX group have been doing in their recent meeting. As per usual, we have  informative and interesting  writing from Freddie. 

Here ii is!

This month at WEX we were looking at hedgehogs! First, we did a hedgehog word search (as normal!) and then John gave us a PowerPoint presentation on hedgehog facts. One of my favourites was that their old name used to be ”Urchin” because of all the spikes, like a sea urchin. We also learned (as some of you might know) that they shouldn’t drink milk but also that they cannot eat pumpkins as they make them seriously ill. We were amazed to find out that hedgehogs have 5000 to 7000 spines! These regrow each year like hair or fingernails! Hedgehogs diet consists of worms, slugs, fruits, caterpillars, beetles and berries. They can walk for 2 miles in one night to find food!!! On bonfire night, you must look through your logs for your bonfire to make sure there are no hedgehogs hibernating there!

Next, we did a smelling challenge because hedgehogs have a great sense of smell. Delia gave us cups with different foods in them which she had covered with a piece of paper with holes in the top so we could smell what was inside. Some of the things I smelt were cucumber, peppermint, onion and banana.

Next, we went outside and played a game of “Find the worms” like a hedgehog. The worms weren’t real worms (phew!) but pieces of wool draped over plants and grass and hidden on the ground. Some of the worms were harder to spot than others, particularly the white ones because they camouflaged with the shiny wet grass. It took us quite a long time to find them all. It’s easier for hedgehogs to find worms as they can sniff them out!

Next, we headed along the track and into the woods where we made our own hedgehogs out of natural resources! Here’s a picture of mine.

On the way back to the classroom we looked at a hedgehog house that was built from old bricks and covered with sticks. It was currently empty but Delia was hoping that a hedgehog might hibernate there in the winter. I have a hedgehog house at home made from an old dog basket and some roof slates to make it cat-proofed. Here’s a picture.

Finally, we played a game of Hedgehog true or false in the meadow. Delia called out the questions and we had to decide if they were true or false. If it was true, we ran to John and if it was false, we ran to one of the other WEX members who was being false.

At the end of WEX I had a look for interesting fungus with Nicola Volunteer and warden Karen. We found some tiny red fungus which might have been Fly Agarics (Nicola here - they were scarlet waxcaps) and a strange round greenish-yellow fungus. Here is a photo of me with one of my fungus discoveries.

I'm sure you'll agree, that was a very interesting read and a big thank you to Freddie for writing another great instalment of our WEX blog.