Do we salute him?
Aug 30, 2016 06:40:42 #
From the Cleveland Plain Dealer, August 30, 2016
ANIMAL LIFE
Researcher now holds the world's most charming job title: hedgehog officer
On the eastern coast of Britain sits Ipswich, which is well known for being the nation's oldest continuously inhabited town. Now it has another claim to fame: Home of the United Kingdom's first hedgehog officer.
Britain has a dwindling population of hedgehogs, wee critters whose button noses, ombre quills, industriousness and taste for snails have made them a favorite of British gardeners. And Ipswich, it seems, is a ''hedgehog hotspot.''
So says the Suffolk Wildlife Trust, which last month posted a job ad for a full-time officer whose duties would center on the likes of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle and nothing else. The officer, the group said, would need to be an ''inspirational individual who will be the face of hedgehog conservation'' in the town, writes Karin Brulliard of the Washington Post.
This was not a position for the unqualified. The successful candidate was to have experience not just in wildlife conservation but also a demonstrated understanding of hedgehog ecology — a requirement that, it is probably safe to assume, must have eliminated most hopefuls. The unusual posting won international headlines, as well as about 150 applications. Just four were interviewed.
And now there is a winner: Alexandra North, 25, a researcher at a Cambridge's BirdLife International will soon shift to hedgehogs and earn about $31,000 a year.
She'll have her work cut out for her. Ipswich may be a hedgehog heaven, but it's also the site of roads, fences, houses and ''over-tidy gardens.'' North's duties will include monitoring the prickly fellows, raising awareness about them and motivating people to remove some man-made barriers in support of a network of hedgehog habitat.
The ultimate objective? No less than ''making Ipswich the most hedgehog friendly town in the U.K.''
North, who has degrees in zoology, biodiversity and conservation, is eager to take on the challenge.
''Everyone loves hedgehogs, and they are so important to the biodiversity of our landscape and our wildlife,'' she says. ''I really hope I can ... encourage everyone to see how making small changes really can make a difference to these little creatures.''
ANIMAL LIFE
Researcher now holds the world's most charming job title: hedgehog officer
On the eastern coast of Britain sits Ipswich, which is well known for being the nation's oldest continuously inhabited town. Now it has another claim to fame: Home of the United Kingdom's first hedgehog officer.
Britain has a dwindling population of hedgehogs, wee critters whose button noses, ombre quills, industriousness and taste for snails have made them a favorite of British gardeners. And Ipswich, it seems, is a ''hedgehog hotspot.''
So says the Suffolk Wildlife Trust, which last month posted a job ad for a full-time officer whose duties would center on the likes of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle and nothing else. The officer, the group said, would need to be an ''inspirational individual who will be the face of hedgehog conservation'' in the town, writes Karin Brulliard of the Washington Post.
This was not a position for the unqualified. The successful candidate was to have experience not just in wildlife conservation but also a demonstrated understanding of hedgehog ecology — a requirement that, it is probably safe to assume, must have eliminated most hopefuls. The unusual posting won international headlines, as well as about 150 applications. Just four were interviewed.
And now there is a winner: Alexandra North, 25, a researcher at a Cambridge's BirdLife International will soon shift to hedgehogs and earn about $31,000 a year.
She'll have her work cut out for her. Ipswich may be a hedgehog heaven, but it's also the site of roads, fences, houses and ''over-tidy gardens.'' North's duties will include monitoring the prickly fellows, raising awareness about them and motivating people to remove some man-made barriers in support of a network of hedgehog habitat.
The ultimate objective? No less than ''making Ipswich the most hedgehog friendly town in the U.K.''
North, who has degrees in zoology, biodiversity and conservation, is eager to take on the challenge.
''Everyone loves hedgehogs, and they are so important to the biodiversity of our landscape and our wildlife,'' she says. ''I really hope I can ... encourage everyone to see how making small changes really can make a difference to these little creatures.''
Aug 30, 2016 06:44:35 #
llamb wrote:
From the Cleveland Plain Dealer, August 30, 2016 b... (show quote)
It will be interesting to see how this turns out.
Aug 31, 2016 05:48:48 #
Could be a prickly situation.....
jerryc41 wrote:
It will be interesting to see how this turns out.
Aug 31, 2016 10:29:49 #
Aug 31, 2016 10:51:03 #
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