AS spring flowers begin to show, please be careful that you don't accidentally 'clear up' a hedgehog with your garden fork.

A hedgehog's nest is in a sheltered spot, often under a hedge or deep in the wood pile. It is made of dried leaves and assorted garden debris which the hedgehog has hauled together in a heap.

It is important to take care with this sort of debris. Your garden may be playing host to more than one prickly guest.

A H COLES, British Hedgehog Preservation Society, Knowbury House, Shropshire.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.