Dave's first (live) NZ hedgehog

We had a lovely dinner with Annette, Hamish and Flavia at their home in Glenleith. It was great to catch up on all the news and reminisce about old times working together in the mask studio! I wanted to take Dave up to Signal Hill to view the night lights of Dunedin, but unfortunately there was a lot of low-lying cloud obscuring the view so we didn't go all the way up. Halfway back down, I saw some movement on the road and pulled up the handbrake. This prickly little fella was rather insistent on sitting in the middle of the road and couldn't decide which side he'd like to be on.



I asked Dave to give him a nudge to encourage him in the right direction and hopefully save him from becoming roadkill... but of course he would curl up into a spiky ball. Dave managed to get him out of harm's way by using one of our new car rubber mats (being more qualified for the job!). It was a good thing, because although the road was quiet, we soon passed a bus heading in the other direction.

I think it's odd that the colonists brought hedgehogs with them from Britain. We don't have squirrels, badgers, or foxes. Maybe they were homesick? Or wanted to control the slug and snail population?