Hedgehogs together

Description

Hedgehogs together

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A friend of mine had a hedgehog in her garden. She always spoke with enthusiasm about it which inspired me to paint these for her. I looked in a few places at hedgehogs.  Then I decided to paint them in a semi-circle. The back two on their sides filled the remaining spaces. The one bum sniffing I couldn’t resist!  Someone else I knew had heard hedgehogs matting. They wondered what the noise was until they investigated further!
Friends have made their own opinions of what some of these prickly friends are up to. Especially the back two.  The back middle one is bum sniffing. This is as close as I liked to get when it came to their noisy business

We often know hedgehogs because they feature in children’s literature. Mrs Tiddy-Winkle in Beatrix Potter’s stories, Sonic the hedgehog and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland all portray hedgehogs as attractive animals that live in our gardens and the countryside.

The hedgehog gets its name from scurrying under hedges, making a grunting noise like a pig, and having a snout like a pig. Hedgehogs each have about 7000 spines that cover their bodies. Their spines are stiff like human hair and nails. They fall out and are replaced. When baby hedgehogs, called hoglets are born, their spines lie beneath their skin. This prevents hurting the mother hedgehog called a sow, when she gives birth

In the UK, hedgehogs are protected by the Wildlife and countryside act 1981 because they’re an endangered species. There are now less than one million hedgehogs in the UK. Roads, walls, and barbed wire fences all form obstructions that can threaten hedgehog populations

Each year Hedgehogs build three nests. A winter nest made of leaves or logs and cited under sheds or log piles acts as a perfect place to hibernate. In the spring a clump of leaves can make a maternity nest beneath a hedge, outbuilding, or shed which serves as a nursery to rear young. Hedgehogs usually give birth in June or July and can have a second litter in September or October. Litter size is usually 4 or 5 hoglets but they can have up to seven. Day nests can be built at the base of long grass. They act as a summer shelter and provide valuable sources of food that include beetles, caterpillars, worms, and other insects

Do you like hedgehogs or know of someone that does? Do you or they have memories of these great animals? If not then don’t be at all put off. Why not make their day with this stunning card when they have a special occasion coming up?
Why not brighten up your home, or theirs with this stunning painting? Also available as a private commission mounted or framed wall picture or on canvas

7″ x 5″ printed greetings card Blank Inside sold with an FSC Fern Green envelope