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Colin The Hedgehog
Jun. 22nd, 2017 11:01 pmIt's been a very busy week, starting on Tuesday evening when we headed to Tapped Brewery Company in Leeds to sample a few drinks from the Pirate Life Brewery. They are an Australian brewery recommended by Brett, who had drank their stuff in his homeland before attending a similar tap takeover at Brewdog York on Sunday. We couldn't go to that but we agreed to meet Brett and Jo in town to sample the four beers on offer, as well as meeting the brewers who were doing a small tour of the UK highlighting their beers. The drinks themselves were good, but not remarkable, and I was surprised just how busy the bar was before realising that the Stone Roses were playing the Arena. Indeed, it did get a lot quieter after 7:30pm but with Wolfie on call, we couldn't venture too long out. Wolfie only wanted a pint so only tried three beers - with us taking a can of the fourth one home - while I had an additional half as he supped his final one. We hadn't seen Brett and Jo since the Hop City Beer Festival over Easter, so it was good to catch up with them, but by 9pm and without any food (save for a really meagre baguette) we really needed to head home.
It was quite good we did really as upon arrival just before 10pm, Wolfie went to check up on a hedgehog he had noticed before he left. Thinking it was dead as it was lying on its back with its feet in the air, Wolfie just left it, but as he attempted to move him, the little fella sprung into life. It was quickly apparent he was quite injured, with a nasty gash near his left ear, but we weren't sure what to do. We scooped him into a container and brought him inside, where we noticed some maggots in the wound. He had clearly been mauled by a cat or other woodland creature, and had just been left there. We didn't have the medical expertise to clean the wound but he was just an infant, with eyes still closed, and we didn't want him to suffer either. We did some research and tried ringing a hedgehog farm, but they refused to pick up, until I noticed there is a 24 hour vet in Meanwood. I gave them a ring and they told me to bring him in. Fortunately, as Wolfie had barely drank, we could drive down there so after giving the little guy a pipette of water, which he guzzled thirstily, we drove the 20 minutes to the vet. The receptionist told me the vet had an emergency to deal with, but we left the hedgehog, who we had christened Colin, on the table with them before heading back home. We still don't know if he pulled through but he seemed quite lively (although I was scared in the car that he had stopped moving) and the wound looked superficial. I do hope they rescued him and introduced him to a hedgehog sanctuary as they said. Emotional, we stopped off at McDonald's on the way home for a Coke and a calm down before heading back home the wrong side of midnight.
Wolfie was working in Birmingham on Wednesday, staying over, while I was off to Ripon Races for our annual horse racing gathering at work. It was much the same as previous times really - me losing a load of money on poor bets before clawing a modest sum back on a last race each way, while socialising with work colleagues throughout the evening. We got our traditional free drink courtesy of the company while the director and I slunk away to have our traditional pie and peas supper. They do three Ainsty craft beers at the races now, all of which were actually quite good, so I had those and stopped there, not wanting to drink too much due to my current weight issues. Choosing winners and each way bets was quite tricky last night due to the small fields running, with all races barring the last having seven runners or less. One even had four after two were disqualified going into the stalls, which delayed the race by ten minutes. Aside from this, it was just watching some great sporting action in the sun with a beer in hand, with the surroundings of Yorkshire's Garden Racecourse a particularly pleasant way to spend Midsummer's Night. The craic was good and I did get to meet some people from the sister company, although it was noticeable that there were few staff from my side for whatever reason. Still, it was a good evening and definitely enjoyable, certainly worth repeating again.
It was quite good we did really as upon arrival just before 10pm, Wolfie went to check up on a hedgehog he had noticed before he left. Thinking it was dead as it was lying on its back with its feet in the air, Wolfie just left it, but as he attempted to move him, the little fella sprung into life. It was quickly apparent he was quite injured, with a nasty gash near his left ear, but we weren't sure what to do. We scooped him into a container and brought him inside, where we noticed some maggots in the wound. He had clearly been mauled by a cat or other woodland creature, and had just been left there. We didn't have the medical expertise to clean the wound but he was just an infant, with eyes still closed, and we didn't want him to suffer either. We did some research and tried ringing a hedgehog farm, but they refused to pick up, until I noticed there is a 24 hour vet in Meanwood. I gave them a ring and they told me to bring him in. Fortunately, as Wolfie had barely drank, we could drive down there so after giving the little guy a pipette of water, which he guzzled thirstily, we drove the 20 minutes to the vet. The receptionist told me the vet had an emergency to deal with, but we left the hedgehog, who we had christened Colin, on the table with them before heading back home. We still don't know if he pulled through but he seemed quite lively (although I was scared in the car that he had stopped moving) and the wound looked superficial. I do hope they rescued him and introduced him to a hedgehog sanctuary as they said. Emotional, we stopped off at McDonald's on the way home for a Coke and a calm down before heading back home the wrong side of midnight.
Wolfie was working in Birmingham on Wednesday, staying over, while I was off to Ripon Races for our annual horse racing gathering at work. It was much the same as previous times really - me losing a load of money on poor bets before clawing a modest sum back on a last race each way, while socialising with work colleagues throughout the evening. We got our traditional free drink courtesy of the company while the director and I slunk away to have our traditional pie and peas supper. They do three Ainsty craft beers at the races now, all of which were actually quite good, so I had those and stopped there, not wanting to drink too much due to my current weight issues. Choosing winners and each way bets was quite tricky last night due to the small fields running, with all races barring the last having seven runners or less. One even had four after two were disqualified going into the stalls, which delayed the race by ten minutes. Aside from this, it was just watching some great sporting action in the sun with a beer in hand, with the surroundings of Yorkshire's Garden Racecourse a particularly pleasant way to spend Midsummer's Night. The craic was good and I did get to meet some people from the sister company, although it was noticeable that there were few staff from my side for whatever reason. Still, it was a good evening and definitely enjoyable, certainly worth repeating again.
