Wednesday, 20 November 2013

AWI and House guests.

A pause from eating biscuits.This Little lot will end up as part of a wargame for Michel´s  son (Michel´s Miniaturen) for which he´s built this excellent Fort.
First up a Group of Airfix British Grenadiers, 42 years on  and still finding a use.
Close up. The officers nag has been replaced...
Some Zvezda Russian Artillery of Peter the Great painted as american artillery. Not 100% historically correct but  fine for wargaming.
Manning a gun (pinched from the Bodstonian artillery!!)
Lords (Officers) and ladies
These ladies are from Strelets Court and Army of Peter I
And now the house guests. 4 hedgehogs :-D It was weighing day so I though I´d take some pics.

This one we found running about near a busy road during the day. He was covered in ticks and wounds. Weighing only 180gm´s, toes missing on every foot, the sole of one foot shredded,  half the tip of his nose, cut on his left ear and three large cuts on his Body,  in which there were maggots. What had happened to him? Maybe a Motorscythe? A lawn mower?
He was pretty Close to death and The local hedgehog protection People took him in,  looked after him for two weeks and now he`s completely healed (except a small wound on his ear) and weighs nearly 600 gm´s.
Another male, who like his friends, is too small to survive outside through the winter. Even though we´ve got (created) a hedgehog friendly garden, there is not enough naturally occuring food at this time of year for them to gain enough weight for thier winter sleep.
A Female
Another female. when we found her she weighed 290 grams but now she weighs 390gm´s.
Sadly, because we can´t look after all 4, due to lack of space and the feeding costs,  she has gone to another carer.

It´s a bit of work looking after them, cleaning their "pens" out, making up the correct food for them but IMHO, well worth it :-D
If anyone finds one that needs caring for, this site Pro-Igel (the link is the english Version) is a Goldmine of info. For instance, Do you know wether hedgehogs are Born with or without spines ? :-D

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41 comments:

  1. Thanos20 November 2013 at 05:49

    Excellent work Paul!
    But, the hedgehogs...I love these animals! :)

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    Replies
    1. Paul´s Bods21 November 2013 at 01:24

      Thanks.
      They are great Little animals...but they are eating us out of house and home. Everyday they eat over 200 gms of ready made Food, them some pieces of pear, banana, apple, Grapes!!!It never Ends :-D

      Delete
  2. Phil20 November 2013 at 06:35

    Great looking troops...and hedgehogs!

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  3. JohnM20 November 2013 at 07:15

    Those British Grenadiers look superb Paul.

    Great to see you're an animal lover too, good on you !

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  4. maxson20 November 2013 at 07:58

    airfix mes premieres figurines

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  5. maxson20 November 2013 at 07:59

    airfix ,mes premieres figurines..
    beau travail

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  6. Sam Wise20 November 2013 at 08:04

    I second Thanos !!!
    I've forgotten the figs when you told us the Hedgehogs Story !
    Lovely animals, sometimes I saw some in my garden but it's rare.
    I know that some are or pass in it because of the "droppings" they let on the ground.

    and for the question: without spines!

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    1. Paul´s Bods21 November 2013 at 01:18

      Thanks Pascal.
      Without spines on the outside ;-D We´ve made piles of Wood etc for Hedghogs in the garden and at this time of year chack everynight for any. If they are big enough then they stay outside. This year three of them came from our garden alone.

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  7. Michael Awdry20 November 2013 at 09:07

    Lovely work on the Bods and a happy ending for the bushpigs too! What more could you ask for?

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    1. Paul´s Bods21 November 2013 at 01:15

      Thanks Michael. Bushpigs is what i call them as well, that or spuggies :-D

      Delete
  8. Schedler Vincent 20 November 2013 at 09:13

    Great work as always paul !
    Cheers .

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  9. Jay20 November 2013 at 09:59

    Good work, on and off the painting table.

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  10. Thom Osborn20 November 2013 at 10:50

    Great figures, but I really like the hedgehogs, wish we had something like them here in the states!

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    Replies
    1. Paul´s Bods21 November 2013 at 01:30

      Thanks. No Hedgehogs in the states? I never knew that .

      Delete
  11. maximex20 November 2013 at 11:14

    Hedgehog born with spikes, they are soft long-time
    Suitable for cat foods, raw and ripe fish
    No salt, no milk

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    1. Paul´s Bods21 November 2013 at 01:14

      Right and wrong. They are Born with Spikes but they are inside their Skin and they slowly "pump" them up over 3-4 days. I´d be carefull about feeding them fish.It can go bad very quickly and then the likelyhood of Salmonella.

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  12. peter20 November 2013 at 11:18

    I always knew you and your family have a hart of gold! Taking care of these cute animals tells it all!
    Great work also on these oldies and others for Michel's son Paul!

    Greetings
    Peter

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    Replies
    1. Paul´s Bods21 November 2013 at 01:11

      Thanks Peter. My wife sometimes complains when I bring animals back that Need caring for, but she wouldn´t stop it. If I was to make a list of all the birds and animals we#ve looked after it would be very Long. Maybe I should put up a Video I made of Hand feeding some "tame" field mice :-D

      Delete
  13. Herkybird20 November 2013 at 13:22

    I always loved the British Grenadiers box! - How nicely you have painted them makes me drool all over my keyboard!!

    I have a soft spot for our prickly friends too! - and its not on my belly! ;-D

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  14. Ray Rousell20 November 2013 at 13:27

    Great looking figures and well done saving the poor hedgehog!

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  15. The Angry Lurker20 November 2013 at 13:27

    You're a decent human being Paul, good man!

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  16. michigentilesmicroworld20 November 2013 at 14:42

    so GREAT work!!!!!!

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  17. JayCan.Blogspot.com20 November 2013 at 21:46

    we had 3 years in a row hedgehogs for winter guest....very cute indeed but hey...they eat meat what meansit will stink massively each day ;) so find them a well place ...

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    1. Paul´s Bods21 November 2013 at 01:08

      At the Moment they are in our wintergarden until they get big enough to go outside in specially made pens in the Garage. They do smell a bit but worse than meat is giving them bananas to eat...then they really make a smell :-D

      Delete
  18. tradgardmastare20 November 2013 at 22:30

    Fantastic Airfix chaps and a positive hedgepig situation.

    The fort is splendid too.That is a lucky boy...

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  19. Kike21 November 2013 at 00:09

    Nice figurines and well painted for a small scale like this.

    Greetings

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  20. Paul´s Bods21 November 2013 at 01:26

    Thanks Andrew.
    Hopefully they will get big enough soon to go out into the Garage pens...they do smell a wee bit :-D

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  21. Fabrizio Davi'21 November 2013 at 02:11

    Nice Grenadiers (still fighting after 40 years..), and nice hedgehog too, I like them so much!

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  22. Sean21 November 2013 at 13:01

    Always an education Paul. Those Airfix figures look great. I had a similar idea of using Zvezda Swedish Artillery.

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  23. Stefan (aka. Monty)22 November 2013 at 00:19

    Nice work on the figures, but this time the hedgehogs are the eye catchers of your post. It's great that you spend your time and money to care for those little beeings.
    You're a good man Paul !

    Cheers
    Stefan

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  24. Daisy Gowan Ditchburn22 November 2013 at 21:51

    great work on those bods Paul but more importantly great to see someone is out there fore the hedgehogs. they are so cute so its good to see that injured ones have a place to go to get better.

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  25. Pijlie24 November 2013 at 03:38

    Sterling work on the grenadiers. I always thought them some of the ugliest figures ever made but you have done wonders with them!

    Love your hedgehogs. We have a regular in our garden who always livens up summer evenings with an amazing amount of snorting, growling and rustling!

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  26. Paul´s Bods24 November 2013 at 05:33

    Thanks all. :-D Today was the annual hedgehog fund raising Event at the local animal rescue centre...which nearly ended with me bringing home two cats that had just been rescued from a bad owner.

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