Good morning - hope you are enjoying this reminder of the summer we missed - I have changed my working pattern to start from 0800 and stop at 1600 - and then going for a swim in the river (oh, I just hope that Thames Water has neglected to dump more poop into the river for a bit ... I do keep my head up!) 

The amazing duo of moderators at the Hedgehog Highways Facebook Group - Rose and Jacquline - point out that we are still using the same photo as when we started - and suggested it would be a good idea to update it (I mean the BHPS has done that ...) Now, I know that this is not for everyone as many of you do not use Facebook - but - those who are - how about a little competition to find a new cover? The prize would be the fame that comes from being the first thing anyone sees when they go to the page!! If you have taken a photograph that you think would work (and please, have a look at see the sort of shape it needs to be ... though I can crop a bit) - then pop it up on the page with #covercomp.

I was going to write about the new National Hedgehog Monitoring Programme ... but that needs some concentration on my part - so maybe next time.

So - some shared passions ... other petitions and campaigns that I feel need attention. Please follow links if you have a chance.

Maggie Wilcox, better known online as NorfolkBea has launched another attempt to get the hedgehog shifted onto Schedule 5 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act (the Hedgehog Street campaign got as far as a parliamentary debate a couple of years ago) ... so many of the problems the hedgehog faces would be dealt with if this was the case. It would require developers, for example, to check an area for hogs before work started - make them keep those animals safe either by translocation or the retention of some rough ground. And if developers want to be gaining credit for putting in our requested highways - then surely they ought to take that sort of remedial work as a given. Maggie's petition is here.

My friend Zoe Bicat has been undertaking an enormous fundraising exercise, trying to raise money for Stop Ecocide - a year and a half after leaving Oxford she is due to return tomorrow - having walked with her mule, Falco, to Loch Lomond and back ... it has been an extraordinary journey that I have followed online in awe and admiration. 

This one is not hedgehog related - but ... my friend Will has been running the best cafe in Oxford for years - has invested heavily in making it a special venue - and is now about to be kicked out ... if you felt like showing your support (and if you are near Oxford, get in and grab the gorgeous experience while you can) - please sign this change.org petition.

There is big change at home too - tomorrow my son starts his last ever year of school ... and the following week my daughter, against some pretty serious challenges, is starting a foundation year at University of Northampton - with a view to taking a course in biomedical sciences. 

Any spare change for coffee/books much appreciated!