Autumn in Cardiff and Bonfire Safety for Wildlife

 

Many thanks to my friend Bear aka Rebecca Brown for letting me stay with her in Cardiff.  I’ve visited Wales many times yet never been to its capital before.  Above is a photo of me by the hyena on Cardiff castle wall.  The animal statues were put there by the owner of the castle when he was denied permission to have a zoo! 

Autumn is here now and the Celtic new year begun.  Many slightly late Samhain blessings to all!  

Can I also take this opportunity to mention bonfire night, dreaded eve for wildlife and cats and dogs everywhere.  Please keep your animal friends indoors and if you buy fireworks please think of wildlife.  Do you really need the loudest bangers you can find?   Or will something quieter and prettier do the celebrating far better?  Also …

PLEASE CHECK BONFIRES FOR HEDGEHOGS BEFORE LIGHTING!

 

Cardiff (Caerdydd),  the capital city of Wales, is also its largest city and the tenth largest in the United Kingdom.  The English name Cardiff derives from the original Welsh name, Caerdyf.  Cardiff was granted city status on 28 October 1905 by King Edward VII and now has many national institutions in the city including The National Museum of Wales, the Welsh National War Memorial, the University of Wales and the Millennium Stadium, home to the Wales national rugby union team. So there is lots to see! Luckily you can get a sightseeing bus if you want and Susannah let me sit on her shoulders to save my paws!

Apparently something called the Olympics was going on in the Millenium Stadium so I couldn't go in.

Here I am by a statue of Sir Tasker Watkins VC, GBE.  Born the son of a coal miner, Sir Tasker Watkins was a Lord Justice of Appeal and deputy Lord Chief Justice, President of the Welsh Rugby Union and won the Victoria Cross in World War II.  He was very tall wasn't he, as well as obviously very busy and very brave!

After all that hard work exploring and learning about Cardiff Rebecca kindly treated me to an ice cream or three from Cadwalders ice cream store.  I had strawberry, green tea sorbet and mint choc chip so I could see which one I liked best.  The answer was all of them.

I’m avoiding fireworks and bonfires totally and on my way to visit Joe and Claire in Durham which is in North East England.  Many thanks again to Rebecca and looking forward to meeting Joe and Claire soon.

Many blessings

Your friend, Ezekiel

aka Shaman Sham the Wandering Hedgehog

Cardiff Castle

Hi hedgehog friends

Wow!  Where did that time go?  I seem to have lost 3 months in Cardiff while staying with my new friend, Bear.  Maybe I was secretly whisked away time travelling in the Tardis and have had my memory wiped?   I’ve been having a great time here throughout the summer and have been keeping an eye out for Dr Who.  Apparently he’s been seen in Bristol while I’ve been in Cardiff!  

On St Mary's street, Cardiff, with Suzannah. Cardiff Castle is in the background.

I have learned a lot about the history of Cardiff Castle though which is a bit like time travelling I think.  During its 2000 years Cardiff Castle has been a Roman Garrison, a Norman stronghold and even transformed into a gothic fantasy which all sounds a bit Dr Who-ish to me!

It is said Roman legions could have arrived in Cardiff as early as during the reign of Emperor Nero (54-68 AD).  The invasion which started in 43 AD was met by resistance led by Catuvellaunian nobles Caractacus and Togodumnus. Catuvellaunia was in the South East of England and includes what is now Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire .  Togodumnus died but Caractacus fled to the Welsh hills where he rallied resistance and led the Silures and Ordovices against the Romans.

The Celtic speaking tribe, the Silures, who were based in south-east Wales were a sophisticated people who traded widely, made use of horses and horse-drawn vehicles and had war chariots with trappings decorated with red enamel.   This Iron-Age tribe managed to defeat a whole Roman legion during a bloody campaign which lasted for 25 years.

Caractacus was defeated in 50 AD at the Battle of Caer Caradoc (a hill in what is now Church Stretton, Shropshire).  His wife and daughter were captured.  Caractacus fled and sought refuge with the Brigantes, a Northern British tribe who handed him over to the Romans.  Caractacus was then taken to Rome where, following making a speech, he was pardoned by the Emperor and held in high esteem.

As for Cardiff Castle, following the defeat of the Silures and exile of Caractacus the Romans built their first fort at Cardiff where the River Taff nears the Bristol Channel as a campaign base in the still hostile territory.   Then in around 75 AD they rebuilt the fort in the area now occupied by the southern half of the castle.  Around 250 AD another new fort was built with 10 foot thick stone walls backed by an earth bank and this remained in use until the Roman army withdrew during the 5^th century.

After the Roman occupation the native princes of Glamorgan based themselves about a mile to the north and the fort fell to ruin until the Normans arrived and Robert Fitzhamon, the Norman Lord of Gloucester built his Norman castle on the site in around 1091.

In 1947 the Castle was given to the people of Cardiff by the 5th Marquess of Bute.  Visit Cardiff Castle’s website to read its full history and then visit Cardiff Castle for yourself if you can!  

 

Back soon with more news on my adventures in Cardiff.  Talking of travel and history look out for some great photos of me in Charlotte Shirvington's article in the next edition of the Indie Shaman magazine, one from when I was visiting Ross Heaven and the other from when I met Mike Stygal of the Pagan Federation. Good to know I'm not forgotten while I'm away!

Many blessings

Ezekiel

aka Shaman Sham the Wandering Hedgehog

Learning about Light and Energy

Hi Hedgehog friends!

While I was staying with Maggie and Les, Les offered to take me to work with him to learn about making light.   I'm all for treating things humorously so was happy to go along to Pace UK to learn more.

Once Les had explained what he actually meant I had to make light of my hedgehog brain and was even more excited to know I was going to learn to be an electronic design engineer! 

Les is very clever and has worked for some big companies, including working in Europe, the USA and the Far East so we had plenty to talk about as I have been to Europe and the USA as well.  I haven't been to the Far East though which sounds a very interesting place to go also.

Les told me how he set up Pace UK 10 years ago to provide LED technology as an alternative to conventional light sources and showed me some of his work.  Here I am concentrating hard as Les shows me how to solder.     

As it turned out hedgehog paws aren't very good at soldering so I took a seat safely out of the way and watched instead.

I really enjoyed my stay in Axbridge including learning about light and energy from another perspective!  I've now just arrived in Cardiff to stay with my new friends. Very exciting as I've never been to Cardiff before.  Will tell you all about them soon.

On a sadder note I was sorry to hear that while I was travelling my dear friend and adopted brother Keller Cat passed on. He will be sadly missed by his family and friends. He was one of my best friends and being older and wiser, when I was first adopted taught me all about how to manage humans which he had down to a fine art. His light shines on.

Many blessings 

Sham

Indie Shaman

 

Pygmalion

Recently I’ve been learning all about acting at Axbridge Community Theatre where Maggie had a part as a parlour maid in the play Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw.  

I didn’t realise so much hard work went into putting on a play.  Here I am trying out the stage at the Town Hall where the play was to take place, helpfully testing the safety of the crates by sitting on them.

Director, Wendy Mace, was very nice. She gave me a program to look at and told me all about the play.  Pygmalion is a story about a professor of phonetics, Henry Higgins, who makes a bet that he can teach a cockney flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, to speak well enough to pass for a duchess at an embassy ball.  He succeeds but it has unforeseen consequences for both of them.

The part of Eliza was played by Sarah Kendall who is pictured here being ‘poshed up’ by Sara Boundy.  'I washed me face and hands before I come, I did' so I didn't muck her up again while I was getting in the picture.

Ede Bailey did my make up just in case but I was rather disappointed to discover that George Bernard Shaw forgot to put parts for hedgehogs in Pygmalion.   

 

So I helped by checking over the props.  Unfortunately I couldn’t find any cake that wanted tidying away safely.

Parlour Maid, Maggie Stanley with Mrs Higgins, Sarah Duncan.

Many thanks to everyone at Axbridge Community Theatre for letting me join in and I really enjoyed the play.

I've taken the opportunity since to learn more about George Bernard Shaw who said “Animals are my friends and I don't eat my friends.”   Very sensible I think in respect of hedgehogs ... although personally I don’t think it counts for slugs and snails.

 

Back soon

Many blessings

Shaman Sham

A Hedgehog’s eye view of the Jubilee

Me in Axbridge with Tessa Munt, MP; the Revd Tim Hawkins; Mrs Yvonne Chamberlain, the Town Crier, Ian Laken, the Mayor and his Lady; and the Deputy Mayor, John Albone.

Sorry I'm a bit late posting my blog about the Jubilee.  June apologies too as she is the one who helps me with the typing and she has been busy pulling together the Summer Edition of the Indie Shaman Magazine.   She had lots of interesting articles from authors and as the magazine is due out of the end of July, this is the month she has to finish the editing.

Anyway back to the Jubilee, which happened while I was staying with Maggie, who took me along to the Axbridge Jubilee Celebrations where I had a great time and met lots of interesting people.  Everyone was very welcoming and nice to me as you can see from my title photo.  I met Tessa Munt, the Liberal Democrat MP for the Wells Constituency; the Reverend Tim Hawkins; Mrs. Yvonne Chamberlain, the Town Crier; Ian Laken the Mayor and his wife; and the Deputy Mayor, John Albone.  I also met Mike Sartain, the Deputy Chair of Axbridge Chamber of Commerce as you can see from the photo below. 

Meeting People - Me with Mike Sartain, Deputy Chair of Axbridge Chamber of Commerce, and the Mayor and his wife.

I’ve been learning about the Queen’s Jubilee.  The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee marks 60 years of the Queen’s reign.   That means the Queen came to the throne on 6 February 1952.   Her coronation was on 2 June 1953.  The only other British monarch to celebrate a Diamond Jubilee was Queen Victoria in 1897 which is quite a long time ago.

One of the special projects launched for the Jubilee was the Woodlands Trust Jubilee Woods.  This will create a 460 acre public wood in Leicestershire and also plant 6 million trees across the UK creating hundreds of new woodlands.  Planting has already started in Autumn last year and will continue until the end of 2012.  I think this is a very good idea and all my wild animal friends will like it as well.

I also like parties.   I got to try some Pimms.

I have been learning about Axbridge while I am here, which is a lovely medieval town on the Southern slope of the Mendips in Somerset.  It has some wonderful old buildings one of which I visited; the King Johns Hunting Lodge is a museum in a 450 year old property owned by the National Trust. 

As you can see I am now a very cultivated hedgehog.   The museum is run by a dedicated group of local volunteers and has many interesting things in it including prehistoric bones found in caves in Bamwell.   There are also rooms showing what it was like in the workhouse, as well as of life as a civilian during the Second World War, an old shop and many more fascinating collections and displays.  You can learn lots there!  

Here I am at the celebration picnic outside Axbridge Butchers with more new friends.  The butchers sell award winning sausages which are very nice.

All that partying was very thirsty work and my Pimms seemed to have vanished but fortunately Maggie lent me her drink to toast the Queen with her and Les.  Apparently toasting someone isn't anything to do with bread like I thought at first.  Which is just as well really as I had no room in my tummy for more food after that picnic!  

Maggie asked if I want to stay another week as she has somewhere else exciting to take me so I'll be back soon with tales of my next adventures.

With many blessings to all my friends old and new
Sham

Hedgehogs Need Your Help!

I took the opportunity to learn more about being a hedgehog during my visit to Secret World.  Of course I know a fair bit about actually being a hedgehog but it’s always good to get a human perspective on our world which I can share with you all.  I also wanted to let you know how you can help wild hedgehogs as we need your help and make good garden friends you know.

Hedgehogs aren’t just handsome (as a friend remarked on my appearance on my Facebook page) we are also valuable friends to have around your garden as we are one of the best pest controllers there are.  As anyone who has had me visit them will know I do have a rather large appetite but did you know an adult hedgehog like me can clear a slug-infested garden in three months?  Hedgehogs are insectivores which mean we eat slugs, beetles, worms and caterpillars.  Bread and milk isn’t good for us but poorly or rescue hedgehogs can be fed cat or puppy food.

Hutches at Secret World.  Note the hedgehog friendly pile of logs!

Unfortunately hedgehog numbers have dropped by 25% over the last decade.  Changes in farming practices haven’t helped but most hedgehogs actually live in suburban areas so I’m sorry to say that its changes in people’s gardening which have actually caused hedgehog numbers to fall so drastically in recent years.   

Hedgehogs do, unsurprisingly, like hedges to hang out in but hedges have been replaced by fences and walls with no gaps for us to get in and out of the garden - effectively locking us out from helping you with your slug problem.  People are also paving or decking their gardens, and appearance and tidiness seems to matter more than having the odd wildlife friendly area.  

At Secret World.  Here the hedgehogs go outside when they are feeling better before being released

So what can you do to get your own wild hedgehog friend helping you with your garden?  We like:

• piles of leaves and longer grass
• a source of drinking water - if it’s a pond please make sure we can escape if we fall in
• log piles, compost heaps, hedges/shrubs
• hedges or walls and gates with gaps for us to get underneath or through.   

Basically a hedgehog, like humans, needs food, water and shelter.  But unlike humans you can provide for a hedgehog with a good compost heap!  If you haven’t got a hedge then shrubs or keeping a wild bramble patch will do – we’re not that fussy.  If you leave some leaf litter that will be perfect for us to make a nest with and did you know slugs also like to eat leaves so they will be eating them rather than your plants while the hedgehog will be eating the slugs.  Once you have a hedgehog in your garden keep it safe by checking any fruit nets aren’t too close to the ground and check your bonfires before you light them please. 

Hedgehog Fallacies

Many people don’t want hedgehogs in their garden as they think we have lots of fleas.  All wildlife has some fleas and hedgehogs have no more than any other wild animal.  Hedgehog fleas only live on hedgehogs so it’s not true that encouraging hedgehog will mean your pets ‘catch’ our fleas!  Of course personally I have no fleas at all!

Hedgehog Facts

• ·         Hedgehogs are nocturnal and adult hedgehogs are solitary.

• ·         Hedgehogs have 2 litters a year between June to July and September to October.  We have on average 4 or 5 hoglets but litters can be as large as 8.

• ·         Hoglets are born blind without spines which develop within an hour of birth.  Baby spines are soft and white with brown spines appearing within a few days.  Eyes open after two weeks.

• ·         Weaning takes place after 3 – 4 weeks when the hoglets will follow their mother on foraging trips.  The hoglets leave home at around 6 to 8 weeks old.

• ·         Hedgehogs hibernate from November to around February/March when there is no food.

Having a much deserved cuppa after all that learning!

 

Back soon with a hedgehog's-eye view of the Jubilee

Many blessings on your hedgehog helping

Sham

p.s.  

Hedgehog information and facts courtesy of Secret World Wildlife Rescue  and the Guardian Online.

To find out how you can help Secret World with their rescue work visit their website or donate via Indie Shaman's Charity Fund to help continue my adoption.

The Secret World of an Assertive Hedgehog

I was so excited to arrive at my friend Maggie’s last week.  I’ve met Maggie before when June, Simon and Judith from Indie Shaman met her on one of David Rowan’s Stonehenge tours.   Maggie knows a lot about hedgehogs already as she volunteers for Secret World Wildlife Rescue where I was born.  Here I am having a rest after my journey and enjoying the late sunshine in Axbridge.

Maggie also runs Pace for Living.  She’s been a therapist for over 20 years which is more years than since I was born!  

Maggie runs training courses and let me help her teach assertiveness at the Carlton Centre, Weston Super Mare. I’m very good at assertiveness apparently.

Then Maggie took me for a visit to Secret World Wildlife Rescue.  It made me feel quite emotional seeing my old home as I haven't seen it since I was a young hoglet.

Secret World is a charity in South West England which rescues, rehabilitates and releases injured, sick or orphaned wildlife.  Last year they helped around 4000 of us.  They also carry out educational visits in schools to teach children about nature and what they can do to protect wildlife, and have a conservation area including woodland and a wild flower meadow.

Do you know that I’m endangered?  It’s not just me and my hedgehog family and friends either as hedgehogs are only one of the many species of wildlife that were once common but are now on the endangered list.   Makes me feel very sad so I'm lucky I have all my friends to cheer me up and to help, and even luckier that there is somewhere like Secret World Wildlife Rescue.

 

Secret World relies on charitable donations to be able to do its work so if you are holding a fundraiser do take a look at their website.  You can also help Secret World by adopting an Owl, Fox, Badger or Otter and you will get information about your adopted animal as well as your own cuddly friend.  And if you treat them well they may develop a personality with assertiveness like I have.

Back soon with more photos of my visit to Secret World and more information about hedgehogs.

Many blessings

Your friend,Shaman Sham the Wandering Hedgehog