Today I was going to post a pithy indictment of the way our failing politicians are too busy squabbling over who said what to whom - affecting outrage in the House of Commons while all around them burns. 

But then - Google Alerts (again!) came up with something far better. Into my inbox popped a link to a film ...

Hedgehog's Home is a magnificent short film and I recommend it to you wholeheartedly. Animated by the amazing Eva Cvijanović and based on a story by Branko Ćopić, it is extraordinarily good. 

This is right up there with Hedgehog in the Fog - the rightly famous animation from 1975 by Yuriy Norshteyn.

While I was researching the book I did on the iconography of hedgehogs I was amazed at the number of different ways they have appeared in art, literature, advertising and philosophy ... people often refer to the 'humble' hedgehog - but the reality is quite different - here is an animal that can hold its head as high as any others! So - explore the hedgehog and be reminded why we love them so - and why we must do all we can to keep them safe!