I started studying hedgehogs over 30 years ago - this photo is from 25 years ago and taken by Dr Pat Morris as I was radio-tracking in Devon. That was an interesting time - unfashionably vegan, living in a small and very cold caravan at the top of a field - charging batteries in a shed and digging my own toilet ... the very generous farmers encouraged me to use their bath - and let me make bread ... it was hard, it was exhausting and it was wonderful. I wrote about many of the stories of my early hedgehog days in A Prickly Affair ... a book that was reviewed in the New Scientist, The Economist, by Jeanette Winterson and Ann Widdecombe ... yet is also enjoyed by interested 10 and 11 year olds. And it is my dream to capture the hearts of some of those younger people - to give them the chance to realise their dreams - to live out their lives in wonder.

I was preparing a lecture and came across a quote from Rachel Carson that I think is important - "If I had influence with the good fairy who is supposed to preside over the christening of all children, I should ask that her gift to each child in the world be a sense of wonder so indestructible that it would last throughout life."

What got you filled with wonder? Please share on twitter - I am @hedgehoghugh - any stories that tell how you started, how you keep the wonder alive as an adult and how we can encourage our children to realise that the wonder out there is so much greater than that on a screen!

Enough moralising for a morning - remember - if you see a hedgehog out in the day, PLEASE PLEASE act - collect it up and keep it safe - guidelines here - and PHONE 01584 890801 to find your nearest carer.