Tales of culling, census taking, rescue and search for rare variety. Touches on folklore and habits.

Hugh Warwick is a British ecologist who became fascinated with (nay, enamoured of) hedgehogs, and began tracking and studying them primarily in Great Britain but also in other parts of the world. One result of his obsession is The Hedgehog's Dilemma: A Tale of Obsession, Nostalgia and the World's Most Charming Mammal, a sort of memoir about his delvings into the worlds of hedgehogs, hedgehog "carers" in Britain (of whom there are many, and an eccentric bunch they are), the to him painful phenomenon of hedgehogs as pets in North America (which has no wild hedgehogs of its own), a trip to China to find the rarely seen hedgehog "hughi," named not after the author but after a priest in the early 20th century who discovered this unlikely fellow. In a broader sense, the book is all about the interconnections of wildlife and humans, and the damage human encroachments do without meaning to at all. Probably a book that would make a bigger impact on Brits who are familiar with this wild creature living in their back yards, gardens and fields than it does with an urban North American, but I still very much appreciated the scientific information and enjoyed Warwick's enthusiasm as an advocate for this small beastie. It's a pity there are no photographs of the creatures, but otoh there are wonderfully evocative line drawings on almost every page, mostly of hedgehogs but also some of badgers and other interesting creatures, meant I think to emulate Beatrix Potter's drawings - and Warwick divides hedgehog time in Britain into BBP and ABP, Before Beatrix Potter and After Beatrix Potter, and credits her tales of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle et al., with changing forever British attitudes toward this small mammal. A delight to read, even if you don't love hedgehogs! ( )

Charming, funny, and edifying. Nice to read an ecologist with a healthy sense of humor. ( )