Stressed-out hedgehog loses its spines

Vets diagnose hedgehog with alopecia

By Nicola Harley

4:06PM GMT 04 Feb 2016

A hedgehog has lost all his spines due to alopecia brought on by his traumatic childhood.

The unusual case was discovered by vets at the A120 Veterinary Surgery near Little Hadham in Hertfordshire.

They have diagnosed Derek with alocecia after his spines began to fall out and have attributed the loss to stress.

"He's a fighter and we really want to get him 100 per cent by March so we can release him back into the wild" said Lynne Garner, who runs Herts Hogline

Lynne Garner, who runs Herts Hogline, is hoping her hedgehog will regrow his spines so he can roam free again soon.

Lynne, a published author of children's books and crafting books, said: "He's a fighter and we really want to get him 100 per cent by March so we can release him back into the wild.

"He has a very strong personality. If I try to handle him he curls up and bounces around trying to hurt me with his spines but instead I just get hit with a little ball of warm, soft skin."

"He was just a tiny hoglet - two or three weeks old and weighing 3oz - when he was found wandering in a back garden in Bishop's Stortford, Herts., last September, " she said.

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Amazing! Rare half-male, half-female butterfly emerges in UK

OCTOBER 26, 2015

by Susanna Pilny

An “extremely rare” gynandromorph butterfly has been discovered in the UK!

Found in an attraction known as Butterfly World—a center dedicated to pay tribute to and support conservation of the creatures—in Hertfordshire, UK, the butterfly is actually half male and half female, as evidenced by its coloring. With the split occurring directly down the center, one half is black (male) and the other is yellow with a spot of red (female).

Genes apparently are to be thanked for this amazing event. Lepidopterist Louise Hawkins told the Daily Mail that this outcome is fixed “very early on” as it’s a result of “sex chromosomes [that] don't divide properly” during mitosis.

The butterfly itself is a Great Mormon, which occurs naturally from Australia up to India and Japan. Butterfly World is hoping to have it on display over the next few days, as it is rather rare—the chance of half-male, half-female butterflies being hatched is around 0.01 percent.

But unfortunately, it probably will not live long, as the incorrect division of sex chromosomes usually results in internal organs that are, according to Hawkins, “a bit mixed up”. This also means that the butterfly is infertile—so no others are likely to hatch any time soon.

In other words: Catch it while you can!

Read more at

Aggressive squirrel forces schoolchildren to run for cover

One member of staff was attacked and scratched by the bad-tempered grey squirrel during the encounter at the Watford infants' school

By Keith Perry

4:53PM GMT 28 Nov 2014

Terrified schoolchildren were forced to evacuate the playground after an aggressive squirrel caused havoc and attacked a teacher.

Staff had to lead the children to safety at Watford's Chater Infants School after an "unusually aggressive" grey squirrel disrupted their afternoon playtime.

One member of staff was attacked and scratched by the squirrel during the encounter.

Headteacher at the Southsea Avenue school, Mrs Amrit Bal-Richards, said they were monitoring the situation and the caretaker is being extra vigilant, but fortunately the squirrel had not been seen again.

She said: "We did have an incident where we had a squirrel. It is very uncommon for a squirrel to be aggressive. It was quite bad tempered. We will be monitoring the situation and the caretaker is being extra vigilant.

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Victory for the snails that have delayed new road development in Hertfordshire

February 2013. A population of Roman snails is to be protected from an access road development in Westfield Recreation ground in Harpenden after wildlife charity Buglife opposed planning application.

Protected snails
Roman snails are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act and it is an illegal offence to intentionally kill, injure or take a Roman snail. Buglife objected to the planning application in January 2012 because the St Albans council planned to grant planning permission without any invertebrate surveys being undertaken, despite historical records of a legally protected Roman snail population.

Roman snail (helix pomatia)

The planning application has now been delayed to allow wildlife surveys to be completed. The developers will be asked to survey the location and size of the Roman snail population.

Alice Farr, Buglife Planning Manager said "This is a great victory for the Roman snails. They're legally protected. In England they're restricted in range, and so protecting this population is very significant. Very often invertebrates are overlooked in the planning process. Buglife is pleased that the protection of these Roman snail is being taken seriously".

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/roman-snails.html

Boy finds fox asleep in bed

A schoolboy had the shock of his life when he discovered a fox asleep in his bed.

Alexander West (9) was stunned to see the baby fox snuggled in his duvet in his bedroom on the second floor of his home in Hemel Hempstead, Herts.

The youngster had left the back door of the townhouse open when he ran outside to play and the female fox had crept inside and made herself at home.

"Alexander shouted down saying there was a fox in his bed, but I didn't believe him," said mum Dina Luminati-West.

"I thought it must be our cat asleep on his bed, but then I saw the long pointed nose and realised it was indeed a fox.

"I was absolutely shocked, but Alexander was quite excited and pleased she had chosen his room. I said it was because it was so messy."

The small fox is believed to have been in the house for up to four hours before being discovered.

http://web.orange.co.uk/article/quirkies/fox_in_a_bed