A Welcome Mat For Hedgehogs
My home is where the hedgehog hides
in cabbage leaves, and besides
I’ve placed a wooden box and crate -
with straw, beside the garden gate.
His twitching nose he pushes in
to where the moss is green and thin
then search for snails and garden slugs
beneath my pots and plants and trugs.
He scurries where the sparrow feeds
to nibble fat and barley seeds
but freezes when he hears a noise -
his ‘safety’ measure most employed -
then scurries to a safer place
with twitching, prickly, pointy face.
He is your friend, remember that,
so make your lawn a Welcome mat
by feeding him on cans of meat
and make his tummy feel replete.
in cabbage leaves, and besides
I’ve placed a wooden box and crate -
with straw, beside the garden gate.
His twitching nose he pushes in
to where the moss is green and thin
then search for snails and garden slugs
beneath my pots and plants and trugs.
He scurries where the sparrow feeds
to nibble fat and barley seeds
but freezes when he hears a noise -
his ‘safety’ measure most employed -
then scurries to a safer place
with twitching, prickly, pointy face.
He is your friend, remember that,
so make your lawn a Welcome mat
by feeding him on cans of meat
and make his tummy feel replete.
This poem is copyright (©) Fran Bridger 2024
About the Writer
Fran Bridger
Frances lives on Exmoor and always writes a poem for the local Exmoor News. She has been published in Mslexia, the Parrakeet Magazine and the Dirigible Balloon. In response to a relative's death during covid she published a book of poems to raise funds for Marie Curie. Much of her poetry reflects the environment, wildlife, farming, and nature.
