On Monday the third of April Noeleen Haylett came to visit the school. She brought two hedgehogs in with her. They were both male. She had them in a pen. She told us a lot of things about hedgehogs. Here’s some of the things we learned:
One time, a man phoned Noeleen and told her he had caught a baby otter in a river. When she got there, she discovered it was actually a mink but she didn’t have the heart to tell the man. She brought it into her friend, who was a vet, and they called it a motter. Noeleen kept it anyway and reared it.
Noeleen told us about her charity work with school children in Ghana in Africa. At the moment she is raising money to bore a well so that children can go to school rather than spend all day looking for water. We have decided to donate the proceeds of our Easter raffle to Noeleen to help her with her latest project. She also asked us to pass on any old schoolbags and books we might no longer need as well as one pencil and some paper. She is planning to send them to schools in Ghana next year.
We really enjoyed Noeleen’s visit and hope she will come again. There are photos of Noeleen's visit below.
By Dervla and Rebecca (6th class)
- Hedgehogs have poor eyesight but they have a very good sense of smell. When they are born their prickles are rubbery so it is easier for the mother to give birth to them.
- Hedgehogs can live for up to 2-5 years. When hedgehogs get scared they roll up into a ball. They have black eyes and a black nose. You can’t really see their face.
- Hedgehogs eat ham, other meats and sometimes watermelon but that can give them diarrhoea. They drink water. Milk gives them diarrhoea and if they get diarrhoea they can die. If you want to feed your hedgehog slugs you could leave a little bit of old beer outside in a tub and in the morning there will be slugs inside the container.
- Hedgehogs live in nests. Usually 3-5 hedgehogs are born at once, while they can have 11 babies in a year. They’re born in the summertime. Baby hedgehogs are called hoglets. When they are 3-5 weeks old they will leave their parents. The mother may eat the hoglet if disturbed as mothers need peace and quiet.
One time, a man phoned Noeleen and told her he had caught a baby otter in a river. When she got there, she discovered it was actually a mink but she didn’t have the heart to tell the man. She brought it into her friend, who was a vet, and they called it a motter. Noeleen kept it anyway and reared it.
Noeleen told us about her charity work with school children in Ghana in Africa. At the moment she is raising money to bore a well so that children can go to school rather than spend all day looking for water. We have decided to donate the proceeds of our Easter raffle to Noeleen to help her with her latest project. She also asked us to pass on any old schoolbags and books we might no longer need as well as one pencil and some paper. She is planning to send them to schools in Ghana next year.
We really enjoyed Noeleen’s visit and hope she will come again. There are photos of Noeleen's visit below.
By Dervla and Rebecca (6th class)
