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Obsession, persecution and passion: the hedgehog may be small, but it attracts strong feelings. And Hugh Warwick is not immune. Travelling through fields in Devon and up to the islands of Scotland, visiting hedgehog hospitals across Britain and the International Hedgehog Olympics in the USA, travelling across China on the trail of the rare hedgehog species hughi, seen only twelve times in a 100 years, Hugh sets out to answer our questions about hedgehogs, from the practical to the sublime.

Considering hedgehogs and birds, featuring Brian May and Ted Hughes, explaining what hedgehogs do when they're not in our gardens and why it is that we like them, this is the funny, eccentric and moving story of one man's quest to understand our deep-rooted affection for these universally known, little-understood animals. Hedgehogs are often our first encounter with the animal world, yet their numbers are now declining rapidly, down 20 per cent in the last ten years (as Hugh knows from his involvement in HogWatch).

From tips on how to make your garden more hedgehog friendly, to explaining how hedgehogs can save the world, Hugh's journey finally leads him to understand that our passion for hedgehogs is indelibly linked to our sense of our countryside, our childhood, and ourselves.