…. do you, Mr. Jones?” (Bob Dylan, of course.) This has become a kind of theme, describing and defining my life, in many different respects. It has come to take on a particular significance over the past week.
I have suspected for some time that our garden might be visited by hedgehogs. The main reason for this belief is that I thought that I spotted their rather characteristic droppings. Encouraged by a friend, who sees them regularly in his own garden, I decided to investigate the matter. I built a little shelter, as specified by a hedgehog rescue charity, and began to put out food and water. The food and water were obviously being taken, but by what?
The visitor cannot be a squirrel, because these are diurnal, and the activity takes place over night. Is a cat responsible …. or a rat? I attempted, with little success, to identify footprints around the food, by sprinkling flour on the board.
Then I discovered that a friend has a little “trail camera” that will respond to movement, and has the capacity to record activity overnight. Sadly, after two nights, the only activity it has recorded is passing cats, but they do not take either food or water. So I put out the camera again tonight, hoping that eventually the mystery will be cleared up. Something is happening …. but as yet I don’t know what it is.