The snuffler

Hedgehog | 6 July 06

The garden snuffler is a very familiar beasty to the Toadsnatcher's garden, visiting most nights under the cover of darkness and leaving his wee black poos laying about the place. Bless. They rarely venture out in daylight so I was surprised to find this one snuffling about the back garden in broad daylight. It was actively feeding, routing out a few things as it combed the garden perimeter. What a noise they make when they are chomping! Even the smallest of little bugs gets a sloppy, tongue-slurping, 'tchlupp, tchlupp, tchlupp'. Wicked noise.

It gingerly made its way down this single step. Watching it test the distance down with its outstretched paw, I wondered what it would have done if it hade been too far? Would it have backtracked and found another way round? Or would it have jumped off in a lemmingesque fashion? I've never thought of snufflers as lemming-types, so I like to think that, as ponderous as they appear, it would have had the intelligence to work out the puzzle without risking life.

Image | Panasonic Lumix FZ-30