Building the HedgeQuarters

Wrong Turn

Milly was an early bird on the meeting point at St.Mary Church. Madhan reached with 2 minutes to spare. Sevan reached on time and was catching his breath after the 30-minute run from Acton Town to Hanwell. Milly led the way to find the Boles meadow which is a 2-minute walk from the church. Even though Madhan saw a signboard saying Boles Meadow on the way, he didn't say a word and blindly followed the crew. We hopped through a closed bridge and ended up going in the wrong direction. We then went back and joined the wildlife group.

Are we clear

We were debriefed on the task and given a shovel, 2 blocks of wood, and a wheelbarrow. We were asked to make a hole, not too deep, and make bedding with wood chips and cover it with logs. We started digging and Milly got some woodchips made out of brambles and dried leaves in the wheelbarrow along with worms and spiders. We were not sure what the end product should look like, Milly then went back to the coordinator, and we got a clear explanation this time.

Let's start building

We made a hole the size of one or two hedgehogs to live. We were asked to build an apartment for a group of hedgehogs and not a small home that we thought we needed to make. Sevan and Milly then started making the hole bigger and Madhan did multiple rounds on a wheelbarrow to transport some chunky logs.

Passed with flying colors

We carefully architected the hedgehog home with an entrance, enough ventilation, nice bedding, etc. We then asked for a review from one of the coordinators, and she was super happy with our home. We covered the home with more wood chips and ensured all the gaps are properly covered for better insulation.

We decided we might not have enough time to finish building a second home before the task ends. So we left a little earlier than the planned task time. We made a short walk around the zoo and Sevan then started his travel all the way to the east for his next mission. Milly and Madhan raced to paint some railings.

A special moment

This is special for Madhan as it is his 50th mission with Goodgym Ealing. And the lovely Ealing GoodGymers made a card for his 50th. Sevan handed over the card and '50 sash'. Shoveling with a sash seemed to be a challenge for Madhan, so he had to stop wearing it. Need to learn from Sevan on how he did on his recent one.