Wild Things visit
What a lovely afternoon we had today with Jenni from Wild Things, Keyworth! We were amazed by her knowledge and we all learnt something new today. We have listened to a hedgehog heartbeat and learnt that it is much faster than ours - except when hibernating and it lowers dramatically. She showed us some hedgehog spines and talked about the skirt they have. We found out that hedgehogs have tails, their feet are about 10cm long when stretched up in movement and that they walk up to about a mile each night, accessing approximately 10 gardens.
Despite the spring rain, we got outside and Jenni loved our forest schools area. We explored with her entry points for the hedgehogs under our tall fences and ways that we can improve their environment (really by doing a lot less tidying!). She is kindly going to replace the hedgehog house that we have as it isn't fit for purpose any more so that we can house them more comfortably.
When we return after the holidays, our first homework will be about checking our own gardens to see if there is anything we can do to help give the hedgehogs a safe, green highway. The children were very excited to come home and tell you lots of facts!
Jenni is on social media (look for Wild Things, Keyworth) if you are interested in having paths made through your garden. Keyworth has the longest hedgehog highway and your garden could be part of this, too! She is also able to offer a wealth of information and direct you on to other places should you need it.