Dear Reader,
Fingle Woods on the northern fringes of Dartmoor National Park should be an ideal habitat for hedgehogs, yet for decades no evidence of them has been recorded. But now they have finally been detected in a centuries-old forest in Devon. Hedgehogs are a great indicator of a healthy ecosystem due to their reliance on an abundance of invertebrates which, in turn, rely on dead wood and leaf litter.
But mild weather this autumn could prove fatal for hedgehog as it interrupted their hibernation. Hoglets need to be above 1lb before they hunker down for the winter, and if they are too thin they are not likely to survive. After struggling with flooding, which has ruined many of their nests, they also face the threat of warmer weather, which means they stay awake when there is not much food around causing them to use up their reserves.
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I have been struggling with a poem this week. It is a bit of a ghost story which really happened to me on the island of Crete, long ago. If I can't make it work as a poem I will tell you the story in next week's blog.
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Betrayal
You were always there
for me, as I for you.
You read to me
you laughted with me
you told me stories
of magic and imagination.
We trvelled north and south
to Scotland and the Western Isles
enjoyed Dorset, Devon, Cornwall.
Went to see the Lakes
peeped into Beatrix Potter's house
felt cold in Dove Cottage where
you put my hand in your pocket.
We were one heartbeat.
But you have gone.
Now I try to live
another life
with you not there,
with someone else perhaps,
someone to fill the empty gap
you left me with.
Please forgive me darling.
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With best wishes, Patricia
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