The Hedgehog's Rounds: Small business conducted after supper

Edwin Marsh

After the dishes are cleared and the porch light comes on, the real errands of the evening begin. This is a quiet study of the small nightly work of a hedgehog: the paths checked out of habit, the slow snuffling search for grubs and windfall fruit, the pauses to listen before crossing open ground. Unhurried and attentive, it turns an ordinary backyard into a place worth watching after dark.