In the dark, a three-legged hedgehog trundles clumsily by, gathering leaves to make his bed more comfortable, although apparently not comfortable enough to hibernate. This may be his eighth winter; hedgehogs lose pigment with age and his bright pink nose suggests he’s well over five – the average age of a wild hog. Except he’s not wild, or not for now. I’ve had to lock him in the garden.
His name is Houdini. He came into my life three years ago, captured on my trail camera with bone exposed from a partially missing leg. I caught him to take to the rescue centre, but he escaped before I got a chance – twice. I finally nabbed him and named him after the great escapologist. Little did I know that this was the beginning of a journey together.
It was unusual, said the vet, for a hedgehog to survive such a wound. He also had a bit of nose missing, but was otherwise healthy. He had the rest of his leg amputated and came back to me a free hog – my neighbours always tell me when they see him.
Over the years he’s got himself into more scrapes: an ear infection, a burst cyst, the usual gamut of parasites. His age or disabilities mean he often sits and stares into space, which makes him vulnerable to being picked up by concerned passersby – last week I fetched him from the rescue centre after he’d been found asleep beneath a car. He was free for two hours before someone found him and took him to the vet.
Not all hogs hibernate, but there’s not enough natural food in winter to sustain Houdini if he wanders off, and I worry – we all worry – about the roads. What happens after winter isn’t clear yet. I’m hoping my neighbours and I can create a bigger space for him, at least till March or so, so he has more room to roam, the illusion of wildness. Come spring, other hogs will need to be here too.
For now, my garden is a halfway house between the rescue and the wild. He’s full of food and sleeping in a dry bed of straw. He’s such a worry. I love him.
• Under the Changing Skies: The Best of the Guardian’s Country Diary, 2018-2024 is published by Guardian Faber; order at guardianbookshop.com and get a 15% discount
