Unexpected Guest

Since it’s not too hot today, I spent an hour or so pruning the jungle of climbing rose and wine next to the living room window. 
When I took a bucket full of garden waste to the compost bin in front of the house, I noticed something dark in the narrow window well next to the cellar window. It was a big hedgehog that hat fallen in and couldn’t escape. 

I climbed down into the window well, and nudged the hedgehog into my garden bucket. Thankfully he was alive and well. We offered him some water and cat food, and he soon began to munch on the crackers.

After he had eaten, he wanted out of his prison, so I put the bucket on its side in the wildest corner of the garden, next to the shady yew tree, and left it alone.

Five minutes after I had taken the last picture in this series, he was gone.

Lesson learned: Build a little staircase into the window well, so future visitors don’t get caught in that trap again.