Where are all the hedgehogs?

At the weekend we visited Parc del Laberint d’Horta on the edge of Barcelona. It is a beautiful park and garden and a lovely place to visit with children. There are a lot of water features in the gardens: fountains, ponds and canals. Sadly in one of the small ponds we saw a dead European hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus). It had obviously fallen in (possibly after stopping for a drink) and had then been unable to get out because of the steep sides. A Catalan friend we were with said he’d never seen a hedgehog before and it made me think. I’ve only seen one other in the 10 and a half years that I have been living here and that one was dead on the road.

In England, I have seen more hedgehogs, both dead and alive. They always seemed fairly common there and I’ve always known at least one person who has hedgehogs regularly visiting their garden. But, sadly, I know that hedgehogs are in decline in many places.

In the United Kingdom, agriculture methods, pesticides, habitat loss and collisions with cars are all key factors contributing to this decline in hedgehog numbers. You can find out more information from the British Hedgehog Preservation Society and please get involved in the Hedgehog Street project too, if you can. 

Here in Catalunya, the Projecte Eriçons is working to gather more information about the distribution of hedgehogs. Hopefully the next hedgehog I see will be alive and well.  

Going batty!

Yesterday we went for an early evening walk and were treated to this spectacular aerial display by some of La Garriga's resident bats.

A walk in La Garrotxa

A few weeks ago we went for a walk in the stunning hills near Santa Pau (a beautiful medieval village in La Garrotxa). I won't describe exactly how daft we were heading off with a little tourist leaflet rather than a proper map, how we followed the wrong path, how we ended up walking 16km rather than the planned 12km, nor how we did not have enough water with us; but, rather, I will share a few photos of the beautiful wildlife and scenery that we encountered on our adventure.

Silver-washed fritillary / Argentina comuna (Argynnis raphia)

A rather ragged-looking blue butterfly

Maiden pink / Clavellina (Dianthus deltoides)

Waterfall near Santa Pau

Beautiful scenery

Fantastic scenery near Mieres

I would like to take this opportunity to say a big "thank you" to the kind chap from the Mieres cultural centre who opened his bar in order to allow us to quench our thirst and then kindly drove us 9km back to Santa Pau where we had left our car. What a lifesaver!