Reasons

The reason I decided to do this for the RSPCA was because of some small visitors to our garden -- hedgehogs. There are many other visitors to our garden, of course, but hedgehogs are the main feature at night.

They've resisted all attempts at getting photos (they're a bit camera shy, it seems), so here's a picture of the stone one that lives by our fountain. :p


He's been there a few years now, so his features are a little indistinct.

Anyway, we actually had cause to call out the RSPCA for one of the little guys. We saw him one morning, outside, limping up our garden path -- I don't blame him for limping in any case, that gravel had to have been murder on his feet. After observing him for a while, we decided there was definitely something wrong, and my dad went to get him. We kept him in the shade, in a box, with a towel, and called the RSPCA urgently.

When they came, quite some time later, they took him away. The lady said his foot was hurt, but she couldn't see anything wrong with him, and they'd just keep him a while to make sure he got better. And thus we rejoiced.

(If you're looking for a happy end, though, you'll be as disappointed as we were. As far as I know, the RSPCA never let us know how he was doing, even when my mum called to ask.)