The hedgehog is a noble beast; he keeps the garden clear
\nOf slugs and snails and other pests throughout the temperate year.
\nJust after dusk you’ll see him on his customary beat
\nHunting Lumbricus terrestris<\/i> or some other juicy treat.<\/p>\n
Although he’s not the biggest or the fastest or most muscular,
\nHe’s the most learned animal, nocturnal or crepuscular.
\nHe wears his mantle lightly and he’s never ostentatious,
\nBut of course he’s quite the expert on all matters erinaceous.<\/p>\n
Gentility’s his touchstone; he’s unfailingly polite,
\nExcept to over-curious dogs that send him into fright.
\nHe’ll clean a plate of milk and bread without a single question,
\nAlthough dairy products will play merry hell with his digestion.<\/p>\n
So if you find a hedgehog in your garden, wish him well,
\nAnd keep your eye out for him following a rainy spell.
\nJust let him tend his patch according to the natural order,
\nAnd he’ll gladly keep the pests away from your herbaceous border.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The hedgehog is a noble beast; he keeps the garden clear Of slugs and snails and other pests throughout the temperate year. Just after dusk you’ll see him on his customary beat Hunting Lumbricus terrestris or some other juicy treat. Although he’s not the biggest or the fastest or most…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-467","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poetry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.elbeno.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/467","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.elbeno.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.elbeno.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.elbeno.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.elbeno.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=467"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.elbeno.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/467\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.elbeno.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=467"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.elbeno.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=467"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.elbeno.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=467"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}