Just another night

by Peter Hanscomb

Just another night , the daily routine of providing food for our nocturnal visitors, foxes and hedgehogs. Except it’s not just another night , we have a young visitor, James my wife’s nephew.

Ask most people , especially anyone who lives in a large urban area and you’ll likely get the same answer , when was the last time you’ve seen a hedgehog / fox. The truth is they are all around us , we just need to look in the right place and and at the right time.

I never get tired of watching wildlife , especially iconic British mammals such as the fox and hedgehog. In truth I get to watch both most nights in the garden. But tonight has been different. Watching wildlife through the eyes of a young person ( James is Eleven ) is definitely a different experience. His excitement at firstly watching foxes from the bedroom window and then outside sat on the road curb , with the fox less than a few metres away was clearly obvious. The excitement only increased when the first hedgehog appeared in the back garden , which we followed on our night vision cameras.

To me it has been another night , surrounded by wildlife that if I’m honest I sometimes take that for granted. For James , hopefully a glimpse of rare British mammals may have just made this a night to remember. So my conclusion, there is no such thing as just another night. There’s tonight and every one counts.